Little Shop of Horrors
by Tharesa
Summary: Dean Winchester has been a "jock" since freshman year. Now, in his last year of high school, he has decided to become a "theatre kid". Why? Nothing special. He just wants his best friend back. Destiel.
1. Homeroom

"Dude, you're signing up for acting?" Alistair jeered as he watched Dean fill out his senior year registration form. Dean didn't respond.

"I wouldn't do that, brotha. They'll knock you otta there 'fore you can get your socks on." Benny warned from the desk behind Dean.

"I don't have a choice, Benny." Dean finally replied with a sigh.

"'Course you have a choice!" There's programmin, cookin, hell, even pottery!" Benny protested. Dean dropped his pen and put up his hands as their homeroom teacher picked up his form.

"Now I can't change it." Dean gave both of his teammates a glare. It's not as if he didn't understand what he was up against. The drama kids were a tight knit group, and Dean knew it would be hard to work his way in this late in his high school career. But to him, the struggle would be worth it. Castiel was worth it.


	2. 7th Grade

"Dean! Hey, Dean!" Dean turned around to see Castiel running toward him, dodging people recklessly as he made his way through the middle of the science hallway.

"Hey, Cas, what's up?" Dean greeted his friend with an enthusiastic high-five.

"I got a part in the musical!" Cas reported proudly.

Dean noticed that Cas was beaming from ear to ear, and the pure excitement rolling off of his best friend reminded him of his own exciting news.

"That's awesome, Cas! I'm proud of you. I've got news, too. I got on the baseball team!"

If it were possible, Cas' grin grew wider. "Wonderful! I'll see you at lunch, Dean, I have to go to choir." He then disappeared into the throng of middle school students, and Dean didn't get the chance to say goodbye.


	3. Night After Registration

That night, Dean found himself lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling and thinking about Castiel. He missed his friend so much. When he had first started theatre, he had tried his best to keep Dean in his life. And Dean had tried just was hard to keep Cas in his with baseball. _Sorry. Castiel. Right. _After their fallout, it had taken Dean three years to adjust to calling him _Castiel _instead of _Cas._ And he still couldn't get it right, even now.

Their attempts just hadn't worked. Castiel made other friends, as did Dean. By the end of eighth grade graduation, it had been two months since they had seen each other outside of school.

The first day of summer vacation, Dean had texted Castiel and asked to hang out with him. He could still remember every word of that heartbreaking reply.

_I'm sorry, Dean, but I cannot continue to be friends with you. I'm too busy to spend time with you. Besides, you've made new friends, too. You'll be happier with people who you can spend time with. Good luck out there. ~Castiel_

Sure, they hadn't hung in a while, but Dean had thought they were still close. Castiel had texted him daily, and he had always replied. The sudden end and change of heart was just...so unprecedented.

But Dean was going to fix this. He refused to let Cas escape to college without at least explaining why he had cut Dean out. He had never bought the "busy" excuse.

Joining the theatre program, even this late in the game, would create a way for him to get to Cas. Not his teammates, the drama kids, Castiel, or even God would be able to stop him.


	4. First Day

When Dean walked into the drama room on the first day of his last school year, he could feel his blood pulsing at twice the normal speed. The room was small and oval shaped, with a podium in the center and a desk nestled in the sort-of-corner furthest from the door. There was a collection of purple plastic chairs set up in a horseshoe in the middle of the room, and closest to the door was another door with an office.

Dean took it all in, then quickly and quietly took a seat toward the back corner of the room and tried to look busy by mussing through his backpack, which he had strategically placed so that he could see the door through his peripheral vision. Students filtered in and took seats around the room, followed by none other than Castiel himself. Dean suddenly felt shy, and he turned away from the door to face the front of the room. He still watched Castiel and the teacher as they made their way up to the front of the room. Castiel and the teacher were deep in conversation; neither paid any attention to the students. It gave Dean a minute to take in how much Cas–Castiel–had changed. Physically, at least.

His hair was as jet black as ever, and it ringed his face as shaggy as ever. He'd developed some amount of scruff that gave him a much more mature look than most high school boys, even the oldest ones. His face wasn't as rounded as Dean remembered, but it hadn't sharpened much either. Of course, he was taller and seemed more lean than before. _Wow, Cas has changed. _

The shrill ring of the bell caused everyone to jump into their seats. Castiel and the teacher broke their conversation and looked the class as if they had just noticed them.

As soon as he looked up, Castiel's eyes caught Dean's. _At least his eyes are still blue as ever. _Dean thought rather cynically.

Dean held Castiel's stare, which waved from confusion to displeasure. Dean prided himself that he was still able to pick up the smallest changes in Castiel's expressions, even if they weren't receptive.

"Hello, boys and girls. Welcome to theatre, for those who are new to us." The teacher spoke, breaking Castiel and Dean from their trance.

"This is Castiel, my T.A. for this hour. He's also the Drama Club President for the year. He will be assisting me in teaching you all how to act. Oh, and, my name is Mr. Crowley, but please, just call me Crowley."

Castiel acknowledged the class with a small wave, then stared absently at the back wall with his eyes fixed away from Dean.

"So, how many of you have taken some sort of acting before?" Crowley asked. Most of the class raised their hands. Dean, the blonde girl who'd sat on his left, and the redheaded girl on his right were the only ones who didn't. Crowley squinted at those who had, and Dean assumed he was deciding how many of them he recognized. It seemed to be most of them. Then Crowley turned to the trio in the back corner.

"Wonderful! We've got some newbies, eh? Why don't we start with you then. Say your name, grade, and–."

"And your favourite car." Castiel interrupted, giving Crowley an apologetic look before giving Dean the same in a glance. All attention was then turned to the redhead, who was first. Dean didn't hear a word she said, though; his mind was doddling on the fact that Cas had very pointedly said "car" to him.

The redhead looked at Dean, and her movement reminded him that it was his turn. He glanced at Castiel before deciding to focus on Crowley.

"I'm Dean Winchester. Senior. My favourite car is my '67 Impala."

The blonde girl next to him barely waited for him to finish before she began. "I'm Jo Harvelle. Sophomore. I like classic mustangs."

Dean tuned out the rest of the class, choosing to pay attention to Castiel instead of his new classmates. Castiel had been watching each person, but after a few moments, he felt eyes on him and turned to look back at Dean. Confusion took over his features, but this time it, thankfully, lacked the dissatisfaction.

"Alright. Now that that little ritual is out of the way, we're going to start with the most basic piece of acting: release of self."

Castiel turned to the board and began drawing what looked like a cake. Dean smiled slightly as he noticed that Cas really hadn't gotten any better at drawing.

Crowley described the "acting cake" and Castiel filled it in accordingly. Dean copied it in his notebook; the rest of the class scurried to copy him.

At the end of the discussion, Dean took a deep breath of what he hoped was bravery, and raised his hand. Crowley gave him a raised eyebrow, squinted at him, and said, "Dean, right?"

Dean nodded. He felt all of the eyes in the room on him, but somehow retained his cool.

"Go ahead."

"I was just thinkin', the cake ought to have a cherry on top."

Crowley chuckled and gestured to Cas, who scrambled to find a red marker and create a perfect cherry. When he finished he gave Dean an amused glance before turning to the teacher and signaling that the cake was finished.

Crowley moved onto the next subject, which resulted in an improv name-game where the group had to toss a ball around twenty times without dropping it. The bell rang, signaling the end of class, before the group made it to twenty. One of the sophomore boys, Adam, just couldn't catch it.

The class filed out of the door, and since Dean was at the back of the room, he was also at the back of the line. He had his fingers mentally crossed that Castiel would say something to him; after all, he had acted a lot more friendly toward Dean this past hour than he had in the past four years.

But Castiel had followed Mr. Crowley into the office, and Dean gave up on his hopes as soon as he passed through the door.


	5. Lunch

At lunch that day, Dean sat at the baseball team's table, listening to his friends chatter about their first few classes as seniors. He almost made it through lunch without incident, but in the last ten minutes, Alistair turned to him with a sneer across his face.

"So, Winchester, how was _acting?_" He asked, adding a sarcastic emphasis on the last word.

Dean shot him a defiant look before answering. "Awesome."

"Heh. I betcha he just signed up to get some new girls." Michael, another of his teammates, snarked.

Dean rolled his eyes. "You guys are disgusting."

"Don't pretend that's not the truth. I heard Princess Meg Masters is going to be a lead actress this year." Alistair joined in the teasing.

"Oh, and don't forget Castiel!" One of the girls, Lisa, who sat with the team piped up. The boys all turned her way, vexed at why she had even joined the conversation.

"What? He's dreamy." She said with a dismissive sway in her voice. The baseball players all groaned, save Dean, who sat in silence.

"Whatever." Alistair grumbled, the fun of the moment lost. He turned to Benny and restarted their discussion of how lame their math teacher was this year.

The rest of lunch passed without incident. Dean even managed to swing a laugh at Alistair over a girl he was crushing on and had three classes with already.

When the bell rang, Dean escaped and made a beeline for his own math class.


	6. Math Class

As soon as he walked through the door, he groaned internally. Castiel was sitting at the front of the class, pulling a notebook out of his backpack.

_I didn't even have to take acting to get a class with him!_ Dean chided himself as he took a seat near the back. He flopped in a desk and pulled out his own notebook. When he looked up, he found Cas–Castiel, damnit–sitting in front of him, staring at him.

"Uh. Hey." Dean said, startled. Castiel gave him a tiny smile.

"Hey. So. Acting, huh? Didn't think that was really up your alley."

"Still isn't." Dean admitted. Normally he'd be pretending to be cool, maybe chuckling at his own words or giving his trademark smirk. But this was no normal situation. Castiel was talking to him after years of complete silence. All because Dean had showed up in the drama room this morning.

"Didn't think so. So, why'd you do it?" Castiel tilted his head as he had always done when something confused him. It was a gesture Dean had missed terribly.

"I'm not tellin' you." He grinned. Castiel sighed and narrowed his eyes.

"You're after girls, aren't you?" He said as more of a statement than a question.

"No! Why does everyone assume that?" Dean snapped, defensive. So he'd dated a good portion of the school's girls. Why did that have to be a part of his reputation?

"Because everyone knows you, Dean."

"That is where you're wrong." Dean shot back, although he grinned. Cas had said his name. Maybe he'd been more successful than he'd previously thought.

"Really?" Cas scoffed.

"Really."

"Well, _I _know you. Better?" Castiel gave Dean a hopeful smile. Dean hesitated at that. Sure, he and Castiel had been best friends. Maybe they would be again. _No, we will be. _Dean reassured himself. But the regrowth of their friendship had to start somewhere. And Dean wasn't going to let it start with dishonesty.

"Worse, actually. You don't really know me at all, anymore." Dean replied finally, in nearly a whisper. He glanced briefly away from Castiel as hurt flashed across the other boy's face.

"Yeah. You're right." He admitted just as quietly. "But you know what?"

"Hmm?"

"If you want to, you can join the drama club. You could even help out with shows. I mean, only if you want. I know baseball's important to you and stuff, and I could just be being silly about the whole thing, but it'd be really great if–."

"Cas." Dean cut off his excited babble with a chuckle, "That'd be awesome."

"Great." Cas said, relieved. He didn't even correct Dean about his name, either. Dean considered this another victory. Just then, the bell rang, and Cas left with a little wave, which Dean returned. His plan had worked so much faster than he had expected. _Awesome!_


	7. Hallways

When math ended, Dean found Castiel waiting for him near the door. It had been the last class of the day, since they had both had second lunch.

"Dude, I just have to say, this is weird." Dean commented as Castiel followed him out of the room. Castiel suddenly looked shy. "Sorry. You just really surprised me this morning. I honestly never expected you to go anywhere near the theatre area, yet there you were. I mean...you don't have to admit to it, but I know why you signed up for acting, Dean."

"Girls, right." Dean repeated sarcastically. Cas actually laughed. Yet another something that Dean had missed terribly.

"Not girls," Cas said, rolling his eyes, "me." he added quietly. Dean didn't answer immediately. His brain was processing the fact that Cas had seen right through him. But then again, he always had been able to do that. Maybe Cas hadn't changed as much as Dean thought.

They reached Cas' locker, and Dean leaned against the one next to it.

"Are you busy tonight?" Dean asked, an idea coming to him. He wanted to talk with Cas, but not here. Not in a public place, especially where his teammates might hear him.

"Well..." Now Cas was hesitating. Finally. Dean felt a slight bit of relief. The Castiel who had thrown him out of his life was the one he was talking to now, not the person he had once called his best friend. He had suspected that Castiel was being a bit too friendly. It looked like he was right.

"Ah, nevermind. Just a thought." Dean said, dismissing his question before Castiel could.

"No. I'll cancel it. Tell them my dog died or something. You can't get away that easily, Winchester." Cas added his last name in a mock tough-guy voice, which made Dean laugh.

"I thought you were allergic to dogs."

"Yeah. But I'm also training to be a professional liar. A little more practice can't hurt."

"Jeeze, Cas." Dean whistled, hope surging through his body in a sudden wave. Maybe he was still Cas. Maybe Dean wouldn't have to try as hard as he'd thought to get his best friend back. Hell, so far so good.

"So what did you want to do?"

"Do you wanna come to my place? Sammy'd be thrilled to see you."

"Yeah. When can I come over?" Cas pushed his locker shut and turned to Dean.

"Anytime. Doesn't matter to me."

"Let me text Crowley, see if he needs me for anything." Cas said, digging his phone out of his jeans' pocket and crunching keys on the small keyboard.

"Is it alright if I follow you to your locker?" He asked, looking back up.

Dean nodded. "Sure thing." _Funny. Cas doesn't know about the Impala. _Dean thought with a chuckle as they started off down the hall. Cas gave him that head tilt again.

"What's funny?"

"Nothing, mind-reader."

Cas opened his moth to reply, but was cut off by someone shouting Dean's name as they passed through the cafeteria. Both boys turned to find Alistair approaching, followed by Michael, Benny, and Raphael, another teammate of Dean's.

"Hey, guys. What's up?" Dean asked, coming to a halt as the group of boys congregated in front him and Cas.

"We're headed ta Mike's for a Mario Kart tournament, wanna join us, brotha?" Benny asked. All of them were eying Cas with curious glances.

"Another time, sorry guys. My dad won't be home 'til late, and I've gotta watch Sam." Dean lied, the words rolling easily off his tongue. His teammates looked disappointed.

"You sure you can't spare one round?" Alistair asked, eying Castiel distrustfully. The actor pulled out his phone, checking a new text and completely ignoring the baseball players.

"Yeah. Like I said, sorry. See ya." Dean started walking away, and Cas trailed behind him, messily jamming his phone into his pocket.

They exited the building and headed toward the student parking lot. At least, Dean did. Cas paused between the sets of doors.

"Uh, Dean? Last time I checked, lockers were_ inside_."

Dean shrugged. "The lame ones are." He said, making Cas laugh again.

"Oh, I get it. You've got a _car._ Fancy." He followed Dean out of the building and toward the Impala, a car he knew from his childhood.

"And you don't? That's actually surprising." Dean said honestly. He had expected that Cas' parents had bought him a car ages ago. The Novak's weren't exactly rolling in money, but they had never lacked it, at least not to Dean's knowledge.

"Nope."

"How do you get to school? Your house isn't very close." Dean asked as he opened the doors of the Impala. Cas went around and slid into the passenger seat of the car.

"Sometimes public transportation, sometimes I ride my bike. Today, my father was kind enough to drop me off."

"Cool." Dean murmured, unable to come up with a better response as he focus on exiting the bustling parking lot.

A few radio filled minutes of silence passed between them as Dean put the car in line to get out of the lot. When they made it to the main street, he glanced at Cas, who was on his phone again.

"Oh, did Crowley need you?" Dean asked, remembering Cas' earlier text.

"Nah. I left him stuck with Meg. She's vice president this year. They'll text me if they need something." He replied dismissively. Although, Dean caught a hint of distaste when Cas mentioned Meg.

"Something wrong with her?" He asked casually. He'd never personally met Meghan Masters. And from second-hand evidence, he didn't want to.

Cas sighed dramatically. "Everything is wrong with that girl. Honestly, she's insane. You know the bitchy, snobby actress stereotype?"

Dean nodded. He noticed that Cas had cussed. _Since when does he do that?_

"Well, she _is _that stereotype. It's horrifying."

Dean chuckled. "Ugh, man. Guess I'm glad I missed three years of that."

"Lucky." Cas grumbled teasingly, flashing Dean a smile. He turned onto a busier road, and temporarily the radio was the only noise as Dean guided the car across two lanes of traffic.

"You drive like a maniac." Cas commented as Dean slowed into a left turn lane.

"I get that a lot."

"Good."

Dean squirted across the other side of the road and down a side street, pulling into the last driveway before the road came to a dead-end. The house was small, nestled in a forest of trees, and seemed to be a single story, although Cas knew it had a basement. It was painted gray, although the paint was peeling heavily and the rain-rotted wood was visible on many of the panels. The front had a wooden door and a window on either side, although the one on the left was boarded up with planks. It made Castiel curious, as he knew that was Dean's bedroom.

Dean parked the Impala, and he and Cas bailed out with their backpacks slung over their shoulders.

Dean led Cas around back. Cas stared around at the overgrown backyard.

"This place is so different." He said quietly. Dean shrugged.

"I can't keep it up alone."

"What about Sam?"

"I can't expect him to do it, either. Have no fear, though; we've tried." Dean said, unlocking the back door of the house and ushering Castiel inside.

"Welcome back, Cas." Dean said with a smile as Cas passed inside.

"Thank you, Dean." Cas replied sincerely, giving Dean just as sincere a look.

"Alright, drama kid. Make yourself at home." Dean closed the door behind himself and placed his backpack next to it on the floor. He pulled off his shoes with his feet. Cas copied.

"Where's–?" Right as he asked, the younger Winchester rounded the corner, a wide-eyed grin on his face.

"Cas!? Dude! I thought I'd never see you again!" Sam nearly shouted, and the kid launched himself at Cas without any warning. Cas was completely startled, as Sam was twice as big as he had been four years ago. After his moment of shock went away, Cas hugged him back just as tightly.

"It's good to see you again, Sam." He said when the gigantic kid let him go.

"Yeah. So, you guys have made up, then? That's so awesome." Sam said still grinning. Dean and Cas exchanged an awkward glance; neither wanted to denounce Sam's enthusiasm, yet both were searching for some sort of agreement with what Sam had said in the other's expression. And both found it.

"We're gonna work on some homework for a while, then we can play games or something. Sound good, Sammy?" Dean asked, trying to deter his brother so that he could talk with Cas.

Sam nodded. "Yeah! Maybe I can kick Cas' ass this time at tennis."

"Don't be so sure, I'm not out of practice." Cas warned playfully, earning a grin from Sam.

"You're on! See ya guys later." The kid said, then practically bounced out of the room. Dean and Cas exchanged another awkward glance, then Dean skirted around Cas and beckoned him to follow him out of the kitchen. Dean checked once over his shoulder to make sure the other boy was following, and smiled when he saw that he was. _Man, this is gunna be awkward._

A/N: Hey all, thanks for reading! I hope you're ejnoying! This isn't being beta read, so if you guys notice and continuity, grammar, spelling, etc. errors that really need to be fixed, let me know! Thanks! ~Tharesa


	8. Dean's Room

Castiel hovered near the closed door as Dean pulled the covers over his bed in an effort to make it seem less messy than it actually was. When he was satisfied, he turned to Cas, who was taking in the changes to Dean's room.

There hadn't been that many. Dean had never bothered to change the layout, so his dresser was still next to the closet and his bed was nestled against the wall underneath the boarded window. The only thing that had changed was that now his room was filled with baseball and car related items as opposed to action figures and comic books.

"I meant it when I said make yourself at home." Dean told Cas with a reassuring smile. Cas nodded, then sat rigidly on the end of Dean's bed. Dean flopped down gracelessly next to him, yet he made sure to give Cas space. He knew the casualness of their relationship would take a while to resume. He could wait.

"Cas, I want to know why." Dean stated after a minute of silence passed between them.

"Why what?" Cas asked quietly, although the way he said it made Dean guess that he had a hunch as to what Dean wanted to know.

"Why you sent me that text."

Silence. Cas turned his gaze to the floor. He twiddled his fingers, a gesture Dean remembered to mean that he was thinking how to say what he wanted to say.

Dean let Cas think, occupying himself with staring at the poster directly ahead of him. It was a picture of a red Lamborghini. Dean had always wanted a Lamborghini, but his old Impala was just fine. He'd always loved his dad's car, and now that it was his he babied it. For a mixture of reasons. The first being it was old and needed special care anyway. The second being that he couldn't let his dad down by letting the Impala waste away.

"You won't believe me." Cas finally said, interrupting Dean's train of thought.

"Try me."

"I wouldn't believe it, if I were you."

Dean scoffed. "What, are you gunna say that your mom told you to?"

"I told you you wouldn't believe me." Cas sighed, dropping his head into his hands. Dean stared at him.

"Your mom didn't want us to be friends?" He clarified, shocked.

"Right." Cas murmured through his hands. Dean flopped on his back and stared at the ceiling.

Naomi had always been so pleasant. She'd never given off any sign that she'd been displeased with Dean. Hell, she and Dean's mother, Mary, had become pretty good friends themselves due to the boys. It didn't make sense to Dean as to why she would make Cas leave him.

"I thought your mom liked me. Why'd she do that?" He asked.

"I...don't really want to say." Cas glanced back at Dean with an apologetic expression.

"That's okay, you don't have to."

Cas laid down next to Dean, and turned to look at him.

"I want to tell you. Really. But, we just got back to being friends, at least I think so, and I really don't want to ruin that. Can I tell you another time, maybe?"

Dean met his gaze with a kind smile. "So we're really friends again?" He whispered, feeling a surge of excitement twist his stomach. He'd waited years for this. Literally.

"I would give the world to be friends with you again, Dean." Cas gave him that sincere look again, and Dean felt sure that his friend really meant it. _Friend. _Dean grinned, knowing that he could call Castiel Novak his friend again made him unspeakable happy. It was all he could do to fight away the sudden urge to cry as he and Castiel, his _best_ friend, stared at one another. He'd done it. He'd gotten Cas back.

Suddenly, Dean shot off his bed and punched the air. He turned back to Cas with a grin plastered across his face, and _that was totally not a tear _rolled down his face. Cas sat up with him, returning the grin in the lopsided way that Dean had always been so fond of.

"That was so 'Breakfast Club' of you." Cas quipped, making Dean laugh.

"Ah, bite me." He shot back, standing as he did so.

"Actually, I was thinking about beating Sam in tennis." Cas said as he followed Dean's lead.

"Oh, yeah! It's about time Sam got his ass whooped again. I can never beat him." Dean swung the door open, and gestured for Cas to go out first.

"Sam's room is still the one at the back. I'm gunna grab some sodas. Do you still like Cherry Coke?"

"Yep." Cas said, passing Dean and walking toward Sam's room. Dean headed toward the kitchen, a new bounce in his step that didn't go unnoticed.


	9. Tennis

Sam clobbered Cas in the Wii Tennis match, much to everyone's surprise. The group were gathered in the basement, where a large flat screen TV was perched on a table.

"Dude, you are _rusty._" Sam gloated, flopping down on the old couch after a third victory. Cas stood in front of the TV, with his head hung in defeat. But he was grinning.

"You've certainly gotten better. Like ten thousand times better." Cas complemented, slightly awed.

"Thanks, Cas." Sam said with a grin.

Dean slid off the arm of the graying couch and took a few steps so that he could clap a hand on Cas' shoulder. His friend started at the sudden contact, but turned to Dean with a grin.

"You did your best, man. Sammy's just downright unbeatable."

Sam beamed at all of the attention he was getting.

"Except when it comes to Jess." Dean added with a wink. Sam blushed and rolled his eyes.

"It's not my fault she actually plays tennis!" Sam protested. Cas raised an eyebrow at the brothers' exchange.

"Who is Jess?"

"Sam's girlfriend."

"A friend."

Sam and Dean spoke at the same time, and then stuck their tongues out in unison.

Cas chuckled. "Alright then. Another round?"

Sam shook his head. "I've gotta get back to homework. Besides, I'd just beat you again."

"Lame. I'll play you." Dean said, making a grab for the Wii remote that Sam had discarded next to himself. Sam beat him to it, then stood and held it high over his brother's head.

"Give it! Bitch!" Dean yelled as he jumped up and tried to grab it from Sam. The taller Winchester laughed manically.

"Never!"

Dean hopped on the couch and tackled Sam, and after a second of tussling on the floor, he stood up, victorious and out of breath. Sam rolled over and got up, then headed to the stairs that led to the first floor of the house.

"Jerk!" He called as he closed the door behind him. Cas and Dean both laughed, then Dean switched his character with Sam's.

After a few rounds, Dean and Cas gave up. They'd tied two matches while Cas had just barely won one.

"Looks like Sam isn't the only one who's been practicing." Cas noted as they sat on the sunken couch. Dean shrugged. "He had to have someone to play with. Sure as hell wasn't gunna be the dog."

"So that's what missing." Cas whispered, mostly to himself. Dean heard him though.

"She's in mom's room. Poor thing misses her so much."

Of course, Dean did too. He just wouldn't admit it to anyone who asked. His mother had been his role model, his teacher, and after Cas, his best friend. Her death had left a hole in his heart he never thought would mend.

"Can I see her?"

"Luci? Yeah, of course. I think that'd be good for her." Dean said. He shut down the game system, then he and Cas went upstairs. Dean's mother's room was at the opposite end of the house from the brothers' rooms.

Dean quietly pushed open the door, then he and Cas filed in. On the steel gray bedding was a border collie. Her head popped up at the intrusion as if she'd been caught doing something wrong, but she looked happy to see them. She jumped off the bed and wagged her tail, giving Dean a lick on his hand. Cas knelt on the ground, and Dean copied him. Luci sniffed Cas' outstretched hand, then whined excitedly as she recognized his sent. She squirmed onto his lap and proceeded to lick his face.

"Luci!" He squealed, fighting her off. The dog yipped in excitement as Cas pushed her off and held her still.

"Guess she missed you, too."

"Silly girl." Cas cooed in response. He held the dogs face and they exchanged a stare before Luci stuck her tongue directly into Cas' mouth. He gagged and rolled back against the wall. Dean snagged Luci's collar before she could tackle him again.

"Jeeze dog, chill!" He laughed as Cas continued to gag and act as if he were dying. Luci turned to Dean and licked his cheek, and he scratched behind her ears.

"Yes, I know Cas is back. Yes. I'm happy too. You're a good girl." Dean murmured to the dog as she kept wiggling. He realized his words after he said them, and glanced down at Cas, who had ceased his theatrics. He was smiling at Dean with a look in his eyes that told him the feeling was mutual.

"So, what should we do now?" Cas asked, and Dean was thankful that he hadn't said anything touchy-feely. He was exhausted from emotions today.

"I don't know. What time is it?"

Cas pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked. "Shit! My mom's called me like four times."

Dean pet his dog while Cas called his mother. He wasn't surprised that Cas lied, saying he was at Hannah's house. When he hung up, Dean didn't ask any questions. After what Cas had told him about his mom not wanting him near Dean, he wasn't about to question anything Cas did to stick around.

"Dean, I have to go. It's already six-thirty, and mom wants me home for dinner." Cas was still on his back on the floor, and he looked up at Dean with puppy eyes.

"I'll drive you." Dean said, standing up and holding out a hand for Cas.

"Sure, just..." He paused as Dean helped him up, although Dean suspected he was hesitating.

"Hmm?"

"You'll have to drop me off at a different street. Sorry. I just can't risk mom knowing." Cas gave him an apologetic look that Dean shrugged off.

"Not a problem, Cas. You aren't the only one willing to make sacrifices, though I don't know how willing the world will be to jump off a bridge for us. Or something like that." He said, remembering what Cas had said earlier.

"I can be rather convincing when I want to be. Or so I'm told." Cas chuckled, then gave Luci a pat on the head as they exited the bedroom. Dean was about to close the door, but Luci pushed her way through and placed herself against Cas' leg.

"You always have been. Look at her. Smitten." Dean scratched her ears again, then led Cas and the dog to the back door. They slipped on their shoes, then grabbed their backpacks. Dean made a quick dash to Sam's room so that his brother wouldn't freakout if he found the house suddenly empty.

"Sam, I'm taking Cas home. Luci's going with us."

"Tell him that he has to come back. Bye."

"Sure thing. Bye."

When he returned, he found Cas cuddling with Luci. He cleared his throat and smirked as Cas jumped.

"Am I interrupting something?"

"Yes, actually. Luci was just telling me how much of a low-life I am for leaving her with you two for years." Cas said in a perfectly serious tone.

Dean cocked an eyebrow at him. "Really?"

"Yep."

"Awesome." Dean said, for lack of other words. Cas grinned and stood up.

"We're going to have to update those improv skills of yours."

Dean groaned. "I forgot that acting actually involved _acting._"

He moved past Cas and opened the door, letting Luci lead the way as they went around to the car.

"You'll be good at it. Remember all those times we played 'Batman and Robin'? It's basically the same."

"Thanks for the tip." Dean said sarcastically.

Cas shrugged. "It worked for me." He said as he opened the door to his side of the Impala. Dean let Luci in on his side, then slid in after her and pushed her to middle of the bench-seat. He didn't respond to Cas' comment, feeling sort of foolish. He didn't know anything about acting, so who was he to say what did or didn't work?

The boys found themselves two blocks from Cas' house sooner than either would have liked. Dean pulled the car over against the side walk, and Cas hopped out, but not before rolling down his window.

He closed the door behind him, then turned around to give Luci a goodbye pat on the head.

"Cas. Are you gunna come back?" Dean asked after a minute of silence. Cas looked up from the dog, and really all Dean could focus on was how blue his eyes were. _Man I missed them._ He thought. Then he chased that thought away with another. _What if he doesn't want to? _But thankfully, Cas didn't let his thoughts get any further.

"If you'll have me."

"Always." Dean replied, maybe a bit too eagerly. But that didn't matter to either of them.

"You know, there's a drama club meeting tomorrow. Why don't you stop in, if you can?"

"I'll be there."

"Or be square." Cas added, laughing at his own silliness. Dean grinned.

"Whatever you say, Novak."

"Hmm. Bye Winchester." Cas chuckled, waving at Dean with the hand that had been on Luci before strolling off. Dean watched as Cas crossed the street, then turned on the Impala and headed home.

_It's great to have him back._ He thought as he comforted his dog, who was looking a bit lost now that Cas was gone.

A/N: So I threw in a dog. Luci, short for Lucifer, of course. Thanks for reading! ~


	10. Lunch Again

As soon as Dean sat down at the lunch table, his teammates and the girls fell into silence. They were all staring at him as he organized his stuff. He didn't notice until he looked up into seven pairs of eyes. He cleared his throat and glanced at all of them with a curious look on his face. "Can I help you guys?"

"You were with Castiel yesterday." Lisa blurted accusingly. Dean gave her a look that said she was from Mars, then replied.

"So?"

"You worked your way up the theatre latter fast there, Dean." Michael also accused.

"Song and dance must be your real mantra, eh Winchester?" Alistair teased.

"Guys! Slow down, would ya? Castiel and I used to be friends, I was just catching up." Dean put his hands up in defense.

"He's been here all four years and so have you." Ruby, another of the girls, noted.

"Yeah, well, it's been...none of your business, that's what." Dean snapped. He'd never liked Ruby; she was into drugs, which disgusted Dean far more than anything else. And she was relatively bitchy. _That's what Cas said about Meg, _he remembered, _I bet they'd get along great._

"Ooo, Dean's got a man-crush, that's what's goin' on!" Pam, yet another of the girls, spoke up, making the table laugh at Dean's expense. Dean gave her the best bitch-face he could muster, which brought more laughter.

"Look, brotha, we just wanna make sure that you ain't gunna leave us." Benny said seriously.

"Guys, baseball's still my 'mantra' or whatever. Have no fear."

After that, his teammates and the girls went back to whatever they'd been talking about beforehand, much to Dean's relief. And they left him alone with his thoughts, which was perfectly fine with him, because he was only thinking about Cas.

Since his school ran on a block schedule, he had four hour-and-a-half classes per day. Every-other day were the same four. Yesterday he had had Acting, Biology, Free Period 1, and Math. Today he had P.E., Free Period 2, World History, and English. On both days he had second lunch.

Due to this block schedule, Dean had yet to see Cas today. There was no way of knowing whether or not he had anymore classes with him until he walked into the rooms, but so far, nothing. Only English was left, and Dean was sure that Cas wouldn't be taking regular English. Cas was too smart for that.

The bell signaled the end of lunch, and Dean rushed out without another word to his teammates.


	11. English Class

Twelfth grade English was taught by Mr. Shurley. Dean had had him for tenth grade as well, and he was his favourite teacher in the entire building, by far more than even Coach Uriel. He also preferred that his students call him by his first name,Chuck.

Dean was one of the first students in the room. The other was Meg. Dean recognized her from all the times he'd seen her walking around the hallways with Cas. She was short and brunette, with dark brown eyes. And she had attitude rolling off of her in waves.

Dean took one of the front seats, away from Meg, who was in the back. He sat down and pulled out his composition book and a pencil from his backpack, then set them on his desk. He read what Chuck had written on the board, and smirked to himself. It read, "Be back in thirty as of 1pm", which meant that the teacher had made a mad dash to 'Noodles and Company'. Dean only knew this because Chuck had told him that that's where he always went for lunch. It almost always made him late to his next class, too.

Dean didn't pay attention as other kids filed in and filled the seats around him. He didn't pay attention to the person who sat next to him. Not until he felt someone poke his shoulder. He turned the only direction his seat allowed since he was next to the window, to find Cas in the desk next to him. Behind Cas sat Meg. Dean assumed that she had moved to Cas.

"You looked like you were sleeping with your eyes open." Cas said dryly. Dean shrugged, attempting to remain as stoic as possible even though he was ecstatic that he and Cas had English together.

"Sorry. I was just spacing out."

"Ah. Dean, this is Meg. Meg, Dean." Cas introduced them, and Meg held out a hand to Dean, who shook it politely.

"So, you're still coming to the drama club meeting, right?" Cas asked hopefully, turning away from Meg with his eyes focused on Dean.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world."

"You aren't going to let me forget that, are you?" Cas asked, though they both knew the answer.

Dean smirked. "Nope."

Cas groaned in mock agitation. "Damn."

_Again with the cuss words. Hmm. _Dean had never thought Cas would utter a cuss word in his life. _Strange._

The bell rang, then, and the trio turned to the front of the class just as Chuck tumbled–almost literally–through the door. He dumped an empty 'Noodles and Company' container into the trashcan, then sat on top of his desk to address the seniors.

"Welcome to English! I'm Mr. Shurley, but please, call me Chuck. This year we're going to do more literary analysis!"

That gained him a unison groan from the class, but Chuck only smiled.

"It won't be that bad! We'll read interesting books, I promise." He specifically looked at Dean when he said that, giving him the tiniest wink before reaching behind his desk and pulling out a stack of half-sheet papers.

"This is the list of books you guys will need for the year. The first one is 'The Scarlet Letter'. Have it by next Monday. That gives you five days. Amazon ships in two. I've checked. If there are any finance issues, please come talk to me after class today." Chuck said as he passed out the papers. Dean looked at the list. There were five books, none of which he owned. _Awesome. _He thought sourly.

The rest of English went by without notoriety, and as soon as the bell rang, he followed Cas and Meg to the drama room.


	12. Drama Club

Dean had ditched the pair to make a dash for his car. He deposited his stuff into the Impala before heading back inside. As he walked through the hall, he sent a quick text to Sam to let him know that he'd be home late. He didn't tell him where, though. There would be no end to the teasing if he told his brother about his new involvement in theatre.

There was already a large number of students in the drama room. Many of them were people Dean had grown to associate with the department, and there were a few newbies like himself, of all grades. All of the chairs were taken, so Dean nabbed a space on the floor next to Jo and the redhead from his acting class. The girls greeted him, then returned to chatting about whatever it had been he'd interrupted. From their conversation, he picked up that the redhead's name was Charlie.

Dean searched the room for Cas, and found him leaning on the podium at the front of the room. In his hand was a small gavel that he was spinning mindlessly as he talked with Meg. Dean watched him with an elbow propped on his knee and his head leaning on his hand.

Cas glanced up at the clock, then struck the gavel loudly against the metal podium. The room hushed almost instantly. Dean glanced around, nervous as he remembered where he was. Then he felt a bit annoyed at how many of the people in the room were girls, who mostly happened to be staring at Cas with that dreamy look that Lisa had imitated yesterday. _Ugh. _

Cas didn't seem phased, though.

"Welcome! Good to see lots of new faces, some old ones. Alright. So, I'm going to announce the shows that we're going to do this year. For our fall play, we're going to do..." He paused for a drum roll given by seasoned members, which he cut off with a wave of his hand. "A Few Good Men!"

A murmur of feedback rose and fell as Cas moved on. "And for the spring musical, we're going to do..." Yet another drum roll. This time the entire room joined in.

"Little Shop of Horrors!"

There was a bit more excitement for this one. Dean didn't know either of the shows, but that wasn't really important. He supposed he would get well versed with them in time.

Cas passed the gavel to Meg, and sat down in the director's chair that was next to Mr. Crowley's desk. Now that Dean had thought of the teacher, he wondered where he was. It seemed that the drama club was completely student run.

The rest of the meeting involved Meg informing the crowd when and where club fees were due, as well as when the next meeting would be. After that, Cas dismissed everyone. Dean hovered in the back of the room, waiting for Cas to finish whatever discussion he was having with Meg. The vice president would glance his way every now and then, making Dean wonder if they were talking about him. He wished he could hear them just to satisfy his own curiosity, but due to the chatter of the exiting students, their voices were lost.

Finally, Meg walked away from Cas, who approached Dean with a cautious look on his face.

"Hey. Why are you still here?" He asked with a tone of genuine curiosity.

"Thought you might want a ride." Dean replied, ignoring the way Cas was looking at him. It was almost as if he was expecting Dean to run out. _Not that I would._

Cas nodded and the look disappeared. "That would be fantastic, thank you Dean."

"'Course man. Anytime."

Dean followed Cas to his locker once again, then the boys headed outside to the car. The car ride was full of comfortable silence, as both were lost in various thoughts. Before they knew it, they were parked on the curb two blocks from Cas' house. He made a move to get out of the car, but Dean grabbed his sleeve briefly, causing Cas to sit back in his seat and turn to Dean.

"Why did Meg keep looking at me?" He asked abruptly.

Cas gave him a confused stare and his trademark head-tilt. "What do you mean?"

"When you guys were talking after the meeting. She kept looking at me like she was...I dunno. Approving or something." Dean said, attempting to be nonchalant. He was surprised to see Cas' cheeks suddenly dust with pink._ Is he blushing? _Dean wondered.

"I...Dean..." Cas looked away from him then, his cheeks tinting darker. An awkward silence passed, then Cas took a deep breath and reached for the door. He paused with his hand on the handle, before finally looking back at Dean. He noted that Cas looked slightly guilty.

"You weren't supposed to notice." Cas whispered. But then he shrugged and added, "She approves."

"Should I be feeling like I'm getting a blessing from God or something?" Dean asked, wanting to make the situation more lighthearted than awkward. Thankfully his attempt at a joke seemed to have an affect on Cas, who relaxed his tightened grip on the door handle.

"No, actually. More like the Devil. Remember, Meg is scary." Cas gave Dean a shy smile, which was returned, before finally pushing open the door and getting out of the Impala. He was about to close it when Dean's voice made him freeze with the door half-shut.

"Cas, are you gonna tell me why she was approving of me?"

"It has to do with why my mom doesn't want me near you." He answered after a moment's hesitation.

"And you'll tell me later?" Dean stated rather than asked. Cas gave a sharp nod, then closed the door with a goodbye and a wave.

Dean watched him go again. All he could think about was the secret that Cas was so obviously keeping from him. Something that caused Castiel Novak to blush.


	13. Freudian Slip

Dean didn't get the chance to talk with Cas until math class. When he took his seat, Cas got up and moved to the empty one next to him.

"Hello, Dean."

"Hey Cas."

"How's your day been?" Cas asked conversationally. Dean chuckled, remembering acting and the embarrassment it had been. They'd played a game that focused on acting verbs, and Dean had unwittingly volunteered for "seduce".

"Interesting." Was the only word he could come up with.

"I think Charlie was a bit terrified of you. You might wanna console her."

Dean sighed. "God, that was awkward."

"I feel like Crowley should introduce the class with 'Prepare to be the most uncomfortable you've ever been in your whole life' instead of 'Welcome to theatre'."

Dean nodded vigorously as Cas continued, "I mean, he's made me kiss _girls_. Ugh."

Cas glanced at Dean, wide-eyed as he realized what he'd said. "Um, ya know, lipst–." He tried to cover, but Dean cut him off by placing a hand on his shoulder.

He made sure Cas was looking at him before he said, "Cas. Do you honestly think I spent so many years with you and didn't notice?"

Cas' stare changed from one of horror to complete shock. "I thought..." He didn't get any further, as the bell cut him off.

"Talk later?" Dean offered, dropping his hand from Cas' shoulder.

"Yeah. Later." Cas agreed.


	14. Explanations 101

Neither breached the subject until they were inside the Impala driving to Dean's house. Cas had texted his mother not to expect him, under the guise that he was at Hannah's again. Dean still didn't want to ask who Hannah was, for his own sanity more than anything. Cas' other friends were none of his concern.

"I owe you some explanations." Cas said in the middle of a Queen song.

"Only if you want to."

"I do. I just...I don't know how you'll take them."

"So long as nothing's life altering I'll be fine." Again, Dean tried to make the situation lighthearted. But this time it had the opposite effect.

"I figured you'd say that."

Dean sighed, pushed a hand through his hair, and glanced sideways at Cas.

"Okay. I can deal with life altering. The world, remember?"

That got him a small smile from Cas, much to his relief.

"Yeah. Alright. So. You knew for how long?"

"Sixth grade. You made it kinda obvious though. I mean, sure, Zac Effron was good-looking, but Cas, he wasn't _that_ hot."

Cas blushed again, but he laughed. "Whatever. You totally had a thing for Lindsey Lohan."

"Don't remind me." Dean groaned.

"So you're really okay with it?"

"Yep." He responded as he parked the Impala. They hopped out and headed for Dean's room. Luci greeted them at the back door by jumping on Cas and almost knocking him down again. Sam strolled in after her.

"Hey Cas! Great to see you again."

"Hello, Sam. You too. How's school?"

"Easy so far. I can't wait for a real challenge next year."

"And how's Jess?" Dean threw Sam a smirk, to which the younger Winchester stuck out his tongue.

"She's fine."

"Damn fine." Dean muttered, winking at Cas. They cracked up as Sam rolled his eyes and groaned.

"Dean! Stop that."

"Nah. We'll be in my room. Hungry, Cas?" He waved at the cupboard as they passed it, "Help yourself."

"I'm good, thanks Dean."

"Yep."

Luci followed them into Dean's room, and Cas closed the door behind her. They sat on Dean's bed, and Dean looked to Cas expectantly.

"I meant to ask, what happened there?" Cas pointed to the broken and boarded window.

"I broke it. Last year. I wasn't having the best of days."

Dean had come home from losing a big game of the season. Not the biggest, but close enough to mean that his team was done for the season. He'd glared at the ceiling for hours, letting his train of thought tumble down dark paths. First he thought of his parents. He'd always felt responsible for their accident. _If only I'd just come home..._ was his usual thought.

"I'm sorry Dean."

"Ah, it's not your fault Cas."

Dean knew he was lying, though. The second thing his train of thought had led him to that night was Castiel. Castiel, his best friend, who had abandoned him. Just like his parents. All of the people he'd loved, felt closest to...on that day, it felt as if he was alone in the universe. And for whatever reason he'd felt like chucking around a baseball that eventually went through his window. And brought in Sam and Luci. Which was a nice reminder to Dean that he was not, in fact, alone. He still had his brother, and hell, he still had his dog. If that's all he was gonna get, he'd take it.

"So, are you gonna tell me why Meg was looking at me yesterday?"

They sat on the bed at the exact same time, then adjusted to give each other space. Cas wrung his hands and glanced intermittently between the ground and Dean.

"Like I said, she was approving of you."

"But, why?"

"She...I don't know. Was approving that _you _are Dean Winchester."

"Cas. I need you to speak English."

"I may or may not have talked a lot about you. To Meg."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah."

Dean grinned and waggled his eyebrows at Cas, to which the other boy rolled his eyes. "What'd you tell her?"

"Stories from when we were kids."

"Cute."

"Shut up." Cas gave Dean a slight push with his shoulder, and they ended up in a pushing match for the next few minutes before Dean managed to push Cas onto the floor.

"You're mean."

"You're a sore loser."

"Depends on what I'm losing."

Dean smirked. "Deep, man."

Cas just shrugged awkwardly on the ground. Dean rolled around so that he was laying on his stomach, leaning on his elbows, and looking down at Cas. _Didn't this happen two days ago? I guess Cas really likes floors. _

He watched as Cas' eyes roved around his room, or at least what he could see of it, before looking back up at Dean.

"Where's your baseball card collection?"

"Stashed it."

"I thought it was your pride and joy."

"Nah, man, have you even _seen_ my ride?"

Suddenly, Cas' phone buzzed, and he pulled it out and answered it.

"Hi, mom. Yes. Wait, you called her? Since when did you...Um, I'm at Meg's. Of course I hang out with Meg, she's my vice...No. Of course not. Why would I be? He hates me, mom. Fine. I'll be home in ten. Bye."

"Did I get you in trouble?" The words rolled out of Dean's mouth before he really thought about them. Cas chucked his phone away and shook his head. "No. I don't know why she called Hannah. She's never done that."

"Do you think someone's told her? About us?"

"God, I hope not. I guess I'll have to find out."

They got up and left Dean's house, nabbing their shoes and Cas' backpack on the way. Dean dropped him off at the same two blocks away, and like yesterday, Cas hovered in the car.

"I have a bad feeling about this."

"It's not like you're about to fight a monster, Cas. She's just your mom." Dean chuckled, giving Cas a pat on the shoulder.

Cas nodded. "Hey, Dean? Can you do me a favour?" He asked hesitantly. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and handed it to Dean.

"Could I have your number? Just in case."

"Yeah." Dean took the phone and typed in his number for a new contact, then handed it back to Cas. He noticed that his friend's hand was trembling. _His mom really scares him. Jeeze._

"Uh, Cas?"

Castiel paused in the middle of getting out of the car to look back at Dean. "What?"

"If...something does happen, call me, okay? Doesn't matter when or where, I'll come get you. 'kay?"

"'Kay."

Dean made sure Cas got across the street safely, then he turned the Impala around and headed home.

A/N: This has to be the longest fic I've written. Also, season 8 does not help with writer's block. Just a PSA. Hope you guys are enjoying! ~Tharesa


	15. Driving In The Rain

Dean's phone vibrated against his cheek, causing him to scramble awake. He stared at it for a second, as if it were the most offensive object in the world, before realizing that he should probably answer it.

_Who the hell _"Is this?" He grumbled into the device, not sure which words he said allowed or which he didn't.

"Dean." Cas' voice came through wobbly, and Dean found himself wide awake. He sat up in his bed, alarm bells ringing in his head.

"Cas. You okay?"

"No, Dean, she...someone told her. That I was hanging out with you. She flipped out, Dean. I...God, I think she would've killed me if..." He trailed off, and Dean thought he heard Cas hold back a sob.

"Cas. Tell me where you are. I'll come get you."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, Cas, I already promised I would."

"Thank you." He sounded so relieved, "I'm at a bar called the Roadhouse. On the porch."

"I'll be right there. Sit tight."

Dean hung up and checked the time. _2am. Awesome. _He rolled out of bed and raced for the Impala, not bothering to change out of his pajama pants or put a shirt on.

The drive to the roadhouse took twenty minutes, although it would've been shorter had it not been pouring. Dean pulled right up to the porch, and watched as a hooded figure dashed through the rain and opened the door. It slid in, then lowered the hood. Cas looked at him with a brief glance of adoration before staring out the front windshield. Dean noticed that his eyes were vibrantly blue, and they looked wet, as if he'd been crying.

"Thank you."

"Of course, man. What happened?" Dean asked, staring at the dark lines that trailed from a mark on his cheek down below his jacket's collar. He drove while Cas explained.

"As soon as she got home, she flipped out. She said Michael's mother told her you had joined theatre. I don't even know a Michael! Anyway, she went on about how she'd told me I wasn't supposed to be near you, and how I had never mentioned that you and I attended the same high school, and all this stuff, and then..." he paused to swallow, "I told her off. I said she couldn't choose my friends, that she couldn't change who I was with her religious bigotry, that she couldn't decide who I..."

Cas fell silent, and Dean had no idea why. "Who you...?" He prompted, trying to get Cas to speak again. Cas made a face, as if he was wincing, before sighing and saying, "She can't decide who I love."

"And then what?" Dean asked, too engrossed in what had happened to worry about implications.

"And then, she pulled a knife out of the drawer and tried to kill me."

"Holy shit. How'd you get out?"

"Do you remember Gabriel?"

"Yeah, your older brother. Isn't he in college by now?"

"Yes. But, for whatever reason, he walked in the door during her...insanity." Cas scoffed, then continued, " I managed to get out. I ran for...I don't even know. Ended up back there."

Dean parked the car and motioned for Cas to sit still. "I'm helping you out."

He ran around to the other side and opened Cas' door, holding out a hand that Cas took.

"Dean, I can walk perfectly fine by myself." Cas said, attempting to take his hand back.

Dean held on. "Nope."

He led Cas inside and sat him at the kitchen table after flipping on a light. He watched as Cas pulled off his jacket with a scrunched up face. Dean noticed that there were more dark stains on his shirt near his abdomen, and a trail of blood on his left arm. He pulled a towel out of a cupboard and drenched it in the sink before going over to Cas.

"Are these three the only places she got you?" He asked, gesturing to each wound he'd noticed.

"Yeah." Cas nodded.

"Can you take off your shirt? Or at least lift it so I can clean that one."

Cas did so, lifting his tee-shirt enough for Dean to see a line of blood just to the right of his navel.

"Cas. How deep is that?" Dean asked with a slight tremble in his voice. The wound wasn't still bleeding, and Cas didn't seem in that much pain.

"Not very. She really only scratched me there." His friend responded, voice calm.

Dean nodded, and gave Cas a reassuring smile before taking the towel and dabbing at the cut. Cas grimaced, but held still as Dean finished and moved to the one on his arm. That one was a bit deeper, but not dangerously. It had stopped bleeding as well. The one on his cheek, however, was still oozing slightly. Dean took a deep, steadying breath before cleaning that wound and the trail of blood that went below Cas' collar bone. He'd been hoping that Cas hadn't noticed his unsteadiness, but Cas was more observant than Dean remembered him being.

"Dean, it's okay. They're just a couple cuts. I'm going to be fine."

Dean nodded, then leaned back for Cas to pull off his shirt. His friend held out a hand for the towel, but Dean didn't relent.

"No, I'll get it. Just, hold still." Dean leaned back in and finished wiping away the trail that went halfway down Cas' chest.

Now that that task was finally finished, Dean tossed the towel in the trash and helped Cas up. They went into the bathroom across the hall from Dean's room, where Dean pulled out a box of band-aids after turning on the light. Cas tried to insist that he cover the cuts, but Dean refused. He covered every millimeter of Cas' skin that was damaged, then stood back and admired his handiwork for a moment.

"Dean."

"Hmm?" Dean looked up at Cas to see him watching him with narrowed eyes.

"Were you paying attention, earlier? When I was telling you what I said to my mom?"

"Yeah. You basically told her to fuck off. Why?"

Cas sighed. "Never mind." He grunted. He turned for the door, but Dean grabbed his arm and turned him back.

"No, Cas. Tell me what's bugging you."

"Really, Dean it isn't important."

"The hell it isn't. Come on, Cas. Stop with the secrets already. I mean, your _mother _just tried to kill you because you and I got back to being friends, and because..."

Then Dean realized something. Cas had told his mother three things: first, that she couldn't pick his friends; second, that she couldn't pick his sexuality; third, that she couldn't pick who he _loved. _If they had simply been fighting about Dean, why would Cas bring up the fact that he was gay? Unless...

_Holy shit. _The words echoed in Dean's mind as he stared at Cas blankly.

"Um, Dean?" Cas asked, looking a bit worried. He waved a hand in front of his friend's face, trying to get a reaction. Dean blinked and seemed to come back to life. Cas breathed a sigh of relief.

"Cas, do you...do you _love _me? Is that what you aren't telling me?" Dean asked, at first hesitant, but then he gained confidence as he realized that there was only one answer Cas had.

He watched as Cas grew exceedingly more uncomfortable, then realized he was still holding his arm and let him go. Cas looked even more nervous at the lack of contact, however, so Dean resorted to grabbing his shocked friend's wrist, shutting off the bathroom light, and leading him into his room. He closed the door, then turned around to face Cas.

"Yes." Cas finally spoke in a near whisper. Dean ran a hand through his hair, huffed a breath, then went over to his dresser. He pulled out a pair of pajama pants and threw them at Cas.

"Put those on. There's no way I'm taking you home."

Cas did as he was told, and Dean crawled into bed to be discreet. He looked up when he heard the door open, and found Cas halfway out the door.

"Where are you going?"

"To the couch." Cas said as though stating the obvious.

"There is no way in hell I'm making you sleep on the couch. Get your ass over here." Dean said, patting the empty half of the bed next to him. Cas stared for a moment, before closing the door and scuttling over to the bed. He gingerly lowered himself next to Dean, who pulled the covers over both of them. Then he rolled over and put an arm over Cas, pulling him closer.

"I haven't been entirely honest with you either, bud." Dean flashed Cas a small smile, which his now teary-eyed friend returned. "But this'll have to wait for morning. Sleep?"

"Yeah." Cas managed, and Dean could see that he was trying not to sound as choked up as he was.

"Jeeze, Cas. I ever tell you how much I missed you?" He asked suddenly in a hushed voice. Cas shook his head 'no', and said, "You should tell me again."

"Well, Cas, I missed you so much that God, angels, or whatever it is you believe in got sick and tired of my bullshit and gave you back."

"You're a sap at three am, you know that, Dean?" Cas murmured back. Dean didn't care, though. The joyful light in Cas' eyes was better than defending his dignity. So he just shrugged and snuggled against Cas so that his face was buried in the crook of his shoulder and their legs were tangled. Neither said anything else, and they fell asleep in that position.


	16. Thunderstruck

Dean's alarm blasted AC/DC at exactly five am every morning. Including this one. He and Cas woke up in the same position they'd fallen asleep in. Almost. Now, Dean didn't really have his arm over Cas. More like his entire torso.

Castiel woke up, feeling a lot heavier than he thought he should. He opened his eyes to find Dean's head against the opposite collar bone he'd fallen asleep on. And to find Dean's chest pressed against his own. And to find that Dean was_ breathing against his neck. _

Chills rolled down his spine as Cas felt each puff of breath against his skin. The alarm blasted for another few seconds before he felt Dean reach for the cell phone. There was a sound of a button being pressed, then the music stopped. Dean's arm retracted, then he lifted himself above Cas just so that he was propped up on his elbows and looking down at big, blue eyes.

"Heya, Cas."

"Hello, Dean."

"Sleep alright?" Dean asked, smirking at him. Cas swallowed and tried to fight the blush he knew was rising. He put his hands on Dean's shoulders and pushed.

"You're squishing me." He grunted. Dean sighed and rolled off to the unoccupied side of the bed.

"We have to get up anyway. At least, I do."

"What do you mean?" Cas asked, sitting up and watching Dean roll out of bed and head for his dresser. His friend glanced back. "Well, I don't know. Do you want to go to school?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Cas made a move to get out of bed, but when his healing side-wound protested, he rolled back. Dean just smirked again and began sorting through his clothes.

"Can I borrow some clothes?" Cas asked, moving slower a second time so that he actually made it onto his feet.

"Fine." Dean huffed. He sounded annoyed. Cas approached him slowly, cautiously, and tapped Dean on the shoulder. He glanced over his shoulder at Cas to acknowledge him.

"Dean, why don't you want me to go to school?"

Dean heaved a sigh, and stopped searching through the drawer and glared at the shirt in his hands. "What if she comes for you, Cas? I mean, she can get to you at school. She can take you away and hell, she may never bring you back. I can't lose you again, man. Especially not when you might be in danger."

Cas tapped Dean's shoulder again, and he turned all the way around to find his friend almost right up against him.

"Uh, Cas. Personal space?" He almost squeaked, which made him blush. It was Cas' turn to smirk. Instead of stepping back, he stepped right against Dean and put his arms around his waist.

"No, I don't think so."

"Then, I don't think you're going to school." Dean shot back, putting his arms around Cas' shoulders and holding him closer.

He didn't know why he didn't protest to the contact with Cas. This should be weird for Dean. He'd been with girls. Strictly. Except for that fling with Aaron the summer after eighth grade. And that heated moment in the locker room with Benny one day after practice. And the next day. Eight days, actually. Then that awkward moment where he'd rejected Michael. He knew Michael was abusive, and there was no way he would jump on that train.

So maybe this wasn't that out of his comfort zone. At all. Besides, this was _Castiel. _The boy who had been his best friend for eight years, who had spent countless hours by his side, who was his one and only wing-man. One of the few people he had left that he loved.

"You can't just leave me here alone." Cas said against Dean's skin. Dean liked to think that hadn't sent chills down his spine, but Dean likes to think a lot of things differently from how they happen.

"I'm not. Luci'll be here."

Dean could practically hear Cas roll his eyes before he replied, "Well, I guess you're right, though. If you go to school, mo–...Naomi...won't think I'm here."

"Good. Then, go back to sleep. You need it."

Cas reluctantly pulled away from Dean and crawled back into bed. He lied on his back and watched Dean pulling out clothes. When he walked to the door, Cas asked, "Where are you going?"

"Shower. Sleep, dude." Dean said, giving Cas a peace sign and closing the door behind him. Cas flopped his head back to the pillow, closed his eyes, and imagined Dean's warmth wrapped around him again.

A/N: Thought I'd throw in a bit of Cas' POV, hope you like! :3


	17. Henriksen

The day had almost ended. Dean was halfway through his English class, wishing Cas was there. Meg had asked him if he knew, but Dean just shrugged and shook his head. He couldn't tell anyone, no matter how close they were with Cas. Then again, Dean had no idea who Cas was close with. Besides himself.

Dean had spent the entire school day thinking about what had been said between himself and Cas last night. This morning. _Whatever. _

He'd come to the conclusion that he was perfectly fine with it. He knew he'd be lying if he said otherwise. He'd known about Cas' sexuality for a long time, but he had never thought that Cas would ever like him that way. Clearly, Dean had been wrong.

So, halfway through English, Dean had made his decision. He had his fingers crossed that Cas would be okay with it, too.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the classroom door. Chuck paused in the middle of describing 'The Scarlet Letter' with a look of confusion. The class watched as he walked over to the door and answered it. The school principal, Victor Henriksen, was on the other side. The two men discussed something out in the hall, then Chuck came back inside and waved at Dean.

"Mr. Henriksen wants to talk with you. Take your stuff."

Dean felt his blood run cold. He assumed there could only be one reason the principal wanted to talk to him. Naomi was here.

He shoved his notebook and pencil inside his backpack, then swung it on as he walked out of the class with a quick goodbye to Chuck. He closed the door gently as Mr. Henriksen greeted him. Then they walked in silence to his office.

Dean sat down in one of the chairs in front of the large wooden desk, completely surprised that Naomi wasn't there. He hadn't seen her in the main office lobby, either.

"How are you so far this year, Dean?"

Dean gave a non-committal shrug. "So far so good, I guess."

Mr. Henriksen gave a grunt, as if he hadn't expect much more of an answer. "Well, Dean, I need to ask you about Castiel Novak. Do you know him?"

"I know _of _him, yeah." Dean said carefully, but in a way that made the response seem natural. Mr. Henriksen nodded, again, as if he had expected just that.

"The reason I ask, Dean, is because he has gone missing. His mother was here, and she seemed to be under the impression you knew of his whereabouts. Do you know of his whereabouts?"

"No, sir." Dean answered as calmly as he could, despite the fact that he was fighting off anger. _How dare she pretend to give a damn._

Mr. Henriksen sighed. "Dean, let me tell you something. Ms. Novak and I have known each other for a long time, and I have to say, she is my least favourite acquaintance. I'm surprised Castiel's older brother, Gabriel, hasn't taken him away from her, yet. She has a history of...negative behavior with her boys. Regardless, Dean, my point is that if you know something of Castiel's whereabouts, you need to tell me. Immediately. Are we clear?"

Dean nodded, then Mr. Henriksen bid him goodbye. Dean made it through the office doors just fine, but as soon as the door closed behind him, he started trembling. What did Henriksen mean when he said Gabriel should've taken Cas away? That Naomi had a _fucking history _of abuse? Dean needed to get back to Cas immediately.

He bolted for the door to the parking lot, and made it to the Impala without incident. Henriksen hadn't told him whether or not to go back to class, and Dean knew that if he had to he could explain to Chuck why he hadn't come back.

The drive home took him less time than usual, since Dean was speeding at least five miles over the speed limit. He pulled the Impala into the driveway with a loud screech, and rushed out of the car, completely forgetting his backpack in his hurry. When he got inside, breathless, he found Cas and Sam sitting on the couch watching TV. Luci was lying across both of their laps.

All three looked up at him curiously.

"Aren't you home a bit early?" Sam asked casually. Cas turned away, back to the TV. Dean walked over to them and dropped his torso over the back of the couch so that his head was resting on Luci. The dog squeak-sighed, and laid her head back on Sam's leg.

"Yeah." Dean panted, still trying to catch his breath. He wasn't sure what had him so worked up. Then again, he knew exactly what had him so worked up. He stood up and went into the kitchen for a glass of water. He came back and leaned against the door frame, eyes glued on Castiel.

"Did something happen?" Sam asked, glancing meaningfully at Cas.

"Yeah."

Now Cas was looking at him again. And he looked slightly terrified.

"Hey, Sam? We're gonna go downstairs." Dean said, tilting his head toward the basement door.

"Tell me if anyone shows up on the doorstep, and whatever you do, don't answer it." He added. Cas got up as Sam agreed to the instructions, then followed Dean downstairs. Luci wiggled herself onto Sam, who's protests could be heard until Cas closed the basement door behind him.

They went down to the couch, and sat on opposite sides of it. Dean kicked off his shoes and put his feet on the cushion between them so that his back was braced on the arm of the couch. Cas copied him, minus the shoes.

"What happened?" Cas asked, staring at his toes, which were merely a centimeter from Dean's.

"Your mom came to school. She told Henriksen that she thought I knew something. I told him I didn't. Then I came home." Dean summarized. Cas didn't look satisfied.

"Did you talk to her?"

"No. She had left before he called me into _his office_." Dean gave a fake shudder, trying to make light of the conversation, yet again. He felt like he did that a lot.

"Scary." Cas said, smiling slightly before frowning again. "What did he tell you? Anything...life altering?" Cas asked, finally looking up at Dean.

Dean felt his heart stutter at how scared Cas looked. He hadn't seen that expression on his friend's face since he'd tried to get him to go on the biggest roller coaster at Six Flags back in seventh grade. He wiggled his feet so that they were resting on top of Cas' before answering.

"Yeah, actually. I think he was trying to motivate me to give something away, but...he told me your mom has a history. Of 'negative behavior'." He used his fingers to make air quotes.

Cas glanced at their feet, then back at Dean. He shrugged. "She does." He affirmed.

"Jeeze, Cas." Dean breathed. He glanced at the band-aids that covered the slash on Cas' cheek. They looked new.

Cas noticed Dean's look, and brought a hand up to touch the bandages. "Sam helped me put new ones on this morning."

Dean let his eyes wander across Cas' face, taking in his features. He noticed Cas was doing the same. Eventually, they moved closer to one another, with their feet now dangling off the side of the couch. Their shoulders were leaning against the back, almost touching. Dean lifted a hand, and after glancing at Cas' eyes for permission, carded his fingers through Cas' hair. It was softer than he remembered, and Dean couldn't stop the nostalgic smile that found its way onto his face. Cas closed his eyes and leaned into the touch as he spoke.

"You still haven't said anything about last night. Or about this morning."

"Oh. Right."

They fell into silence, until Cas started purring. Dean chuckled. "Dude. That's weird."

"You're weird." Cas shot back.

Dean laughed again. "Nice come back."

"Are you going to say anything?" Cas pressed. Dean sighed and dropped his hand from Cas' hair. He picked up one of Cas' hands and started playing with his fingers.

"Yeah. Castiel Novak, will you," he paused, making sure that Cas was looking at him before finishing, "be my boyfriend?"

Cas grinned, and Dean swore he saw those blue eyes tear up before Cas pulled him into a hug.

"Hell yes."


	18. Gabriel

Dean and Cas had been downstairs for about twenty minutes before Sam heard a knock on the front door. Luci barked, and he tapped her muzzle to shut her up. She whined at him but didn't make any louder noise as Sam shuffled her off and crawled on his hands and knees to the door. Maybe he was being a bit over dramatic since the curtains were closed, but regardless, Sam wormed his way to the peep hole and looked through. Who he found completely and utterly surprised him.

He crawled away from the door as spy-like as he could, and as soon as he was in the hallway, he got on his feet and raced into the basement. He found Dean and Cas wrapped in a hug that was quickly disassembled when they heard him thunder down the stairs. He pretended that he hadn't seen that, and said,

"Dean! _Gabriel Novak _is here!"

Both Cas and Dean stared at him. Then Dean scrambled off of the couch.

"Cas, you stay here. Sam and I'll go upstairs and act like you're not here. Try not to make noise?"

Cas nodded and laid on the couch with his eyes on the brothers. "I'll just sleep."

Sam lead his brother upstairs, and then split for the bathroom. Dean rolled his eyes, then went to the door. Luci was sitting in front of the it and growling.

"Sorry, one sec." Dean called out. He heard a grunt from the other side that sounded like "okay".

He pulled on Luci's collar so that he could get to the door.

"Sit." He snapped at her as she tried to wiggle back. She whined, but then sat.

Dean opened the door and sure enough, Gabriel Novak was standing on the stoop.

"Uh. Hi?" Dean asked, giving him a twice-over. He needed to look convincingly, genuinely surprised to find Cas' older brother at his house. Dean noticed that there wasn't an extra car parked in the drive, and wondered if Gabriel had walked over.

"Dean-o! Hey, kid. Can I come in?" Gabriel gave Dean his signature grin, and Dean waved him in.

Sam walked in at that moment with his hands wet, as well as his hair. Dean sighed internally.

"Oh, I thought I heard the door." Sam mumbled, staring at Gabriel. Dean sighed internally. Again. _Does Sam really still have a thing for Gabriel?_

"So, Gabriel. What brings you here?" He asked as Gabriel very obviously gave Sam a once-over before turning to Dean. He wasn't smiling anymore.

"Castiel ran away last night." He said bluntly. Sam and Dean made faces of genuine concern.

"Did something happen?" Dean asked, trying to sound worried. Gabriel nodded.

"Yeah, something happened! Mom freakin' stabbed him!" He sounded exasperated. Sam and Dean feigned shock.

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah, I came home to surprise them last night, and I find mom with a fucking _steak knife _and she's swinging at Cassie like no tomorrow! He ran out the door as soon as I got there, and then mom rants on for an hour about how you," he gestured at Dean, "have 'corrupted his soul' or some shit. This morning she was talking about hunting you down. So I'm here, despite the fact that Cas would never be here 'cuz you broke his little heart. And I'd like to know if Castiel is, too. Here, that is." Gabriel had gotten worked up during his speech, and by the end his face was tinged a bit red and he was panting.

"Sam, get him some water." Dean said, then gestured for Gabriel to follow him. They went down to the basement, and Sam trailed quickly after with a full glass of water. Cas sat up, and panicked when he saw his brother.

"Gaah, uh, hi." He spluttered. Gabriel didn't say anything. Instead, he rushed to the couch, pulled Cas from it, and hugged him tightly. Sam and Dean stood silently near the stairs.

Gabriel let go of Cas, then snapped, "Why in the Blue Hell didn't you call me?"

"I, uh...didn't really think..." He rubbed his arm and glanced anywhere but at Gabriel.

"Think that you could trust me?" Gabriel finished, looking pissed and offended. "Castiel, I don't side with mom. You know that. She's on her high horse and refuses to dismount. Hell, I hate her just as much as you."

"I know. I'm sorry." Cas mumbled, finally looking his brother in the eye.

Gabriel nodded. "You damn well are."

"And thank you. I think you saved my life last night."

Gabriel sighed and pulled Cas in for another hug. "You're damn right. I think the old bitch is officially nuts-o at this point."

Dean interrupted their moment with a question he needed an answer to. "Gabriel, are you going to take Cas back there?"

"No way, Dean-o." Gabriel shook his head with a serious expression.

"Then where _are _you taking me?" Cas asked.

Gabriel shrugged. "I can't keep you in my dorm. Why not just stay here?"

"What if mom harasses Dean?"

"She's bound to. You know that. I could fight her for custody, but Cassie, you'll be eighteen in two months. You can just blow her off until then."

"What if she calls the cops?" Dean asked.

"I have friends in high places. Hell, I could have her packing for jail in forty-eight hours." Gabriel mused.

"Then do it." Dean said rather frustratedly.

Gabriel cracked a grin. "I don't have the time or money for a lawsuit. I'm a college student for God's sake!"

Dean was about to argue, but Cas turned and glared at him. He rolled his eyes in response and resolved to asking another question. "What about school? Naomi will come looking for him there, guaranteed."

Now Gabriel looked troubled. "I should have a word with Henriksen." He grumbled. He clapped a hand on Cas' shoulder.

"Alright, baby bro. Here's the low down. I'm going to see if I can't catch Henriksen today, and you stay here with the Winchesters and hide your ass from mom. 'Kay?"

All three boys nodded, then they trooped upstairs to the living room. Gabriel gave Cas one last hug before he walked out the door.

"See ya, Dean-o. Moose. Cassie." He waved, before he began walking away and whistling a tune. They watched him through the window next to the door until he was out of sight, then Sam and Dean turned to Cas.

"You did not mention that it was a _steak knife._" Dean said accusingly.

Cas shrugged. "I escaped with minor injury. I didn't think it would matter."

Dean dragged a hand down his face in exasperation. "Seriously? She could've _gutted _you, man!" He groaned. Cas gave him an apologetic look. Sam looked at the water glass in his hand and sighed, as though disappointed that he'd forgotten it. Then he went into the kitchen and left his brother and Cas to themselves.


	19. History

Gabriel had strategically parked his car two blocks from the Winchesters' house, just in case Naomi showed up. He didn't want her to know that he was there. He'd had a feeling the moment he walked into the situation that Naomi was pissed off about Dean Winchester again. Gabriel just couldn't understand his mother sometimes. Most times. Okay, nearly all the time.

Gabriel was three years older than Castiel. Three years gave him enough memories of their father, something Castiel never had. It also gave him memories of when their mother used to love them. How she would speak to them gently, touch them softly, and never, ever hit them.

Gabriel also remembered the day it changed. He was five, Castiel merely two, and the policeman showed up at their door after his second day of Kindergarten. His father had died in a car accident that morning.

Their small family did fine. Naomi still sent the boys to school, still paid for their adventures, and she was still kind to them. Until Castiel came out to his family in eighth grade. A switch flipped in her brain, and she lost it. She kicked Castiel's best friend out of his life, and forced Castiel into weekly confessions at their church. Gabriel had found it a miracle that she still allowed Castiel to participate in theatre.

He was home the first time Naomi really hurt his brother. It was the summer after Castiel's eighth grade, so Gabriel was about to start his senior year. He was lounging on the couch in their living room when Castiel ran down the stairs and made a beeline for the front door. Naomi followed him, screaming at him to get back inside.. Gabriel watched from the window as Castiel raced down the sidewalk, away from the house, and Naomi chased him. She caught him about two blocks away, and tackled him. Gabriel remembered wincing at the thought of Cassie getting scraped on the concrete. He watched as Naomi picked a screaming Castiel off the ground and dragged him to the car. They got in, and Gabriel caught Cassie's eyes as they drove away. He could still remember how broken his younger brother had looked.

Castiel had returned from the hospital with a cast on his arm. Naomi offered her older son no explanation, but that night, Gabriel snuck into Castiel's room. He'd sat on his brother's bed and listened as Castiel explained everything to him. How he had just wanted to see Dean Winchester again. How Naomi had outright refused. How they had argued. How Naomi had cussed him out for being gay. How Naomi had blamed it on Dean. How Castiel had tried to run away, and how Naomi had literally broken him.

Gabriel was also home the first time Castiel brought home a girlfriend. Her name was Meghan Masters, and the school year had only started two weeks ago. Gabriel knew Cassie had introduced Meg to Naomi just to get her to leave him alone. Meg knew it, too. The three of them had devised the plan at lunch, and the next day at lunch they'd exchanged a celebratory high-five. The pair kept the guise up long enough for Naomi to believe Castiel had changed. She stopped forcing him to go to confession. Two weeks afterward, Castiel and Meg had a fake break up. Castiel had come home with real tears, and Gabriel understood why.

He had been there the first and only time Dean had tried to talk to Castiel during their freshman year. And he'd watched his little brother broke not only his own heart, but that of his best friend. Dean had found them at lunch, and was trying to say hello to Castiel. His brother simply looked at Dean and said,

"I don't need you."

Dean had walked away after that, and he had never come back.

Until now. For whatever reason, the Winchester had walked back into Castiel's life. Just seeing Castiel around Dean again...Gabriel had forgotten how happy Castiel used to be. He'd missed the light in his little brother's eyes.

And that was why he found himself sitting in his old principal's office, talking to the older man about the situation. He was here because he wouldn't stand to see the light in Castiel's cobalt eyes fade again. Not on his watch.


	20. Ninjas

Dean, Sam, and Cas were sitting at the dinner table later that night, eating hamburgers that Dean had made when there was another knock on the door. They all froze, then scurried into planned action. Cas stuffed his burger carefully into the fridge, then he crawled across the floor to Sam's room. He wasn't looking forward to a cold burger, but it had to be done.

While Cas escaped, Dean and Sam grabbed their burgers and ninja'd their way to the couch, where the TV was quietly playing 'The Simpsons'. Dean placed his plate on the coffee table loudly, then went to get the door.

He hushed Luci, who had been barking the entire time, then glanced through the peep hole. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Gabriel on the other side. He swung open the door, and waved the older Novak inside.

"You guys take forever to answer the door." Gabriel commented as he took Dean's fake spot on the couch.

"Yeah, well, we don't have a choice." Dean shot back as Sam readjusted on the couch. Luci walked over to Gabriel with her tail wagging and gave him a big kiss on his hand. He ruffled her fur before looking up at Dean and asking, "Where's Cassie?"

"I'll get him." Dean said, then headed to Sam's room. He tapped on the door before pushing it open.

"It's just Gabriel." He told Cas, who was sitting on Sam's bed with his hands threaded in his hair. He'd been watching his toes, but he glanced up and rolled his eyes at Dean's words.

"Of course."

They returned to the living room, then Dean shuffled everyone back to the dining table. Cas retrieved his hamburger and stuck it in the microwave for a few seconds while Dean stuck a new one on a plate for Gabriel. When everyone was seated, Dean struck up conversation.

"Did you talk with Henriksen?"

"Yeah. We agreed that it's best for Castiel to stay away from Naomi. And, Cas can come to school. Henriksen just wants you to check in and check out with him personally at the beginning and end of each school day. He's not going to allow your teachers to mark you as present on their attendance sheets."

"That's so kind of him." Cas sounded relieved. In fact, it soothed everyone's soul to know that the principal was on their side.

"What about the cops?" Sam asked. Gabriel held up a finger while he chewed a piece of his burger, then said, "I texted my friend on the force, Balthazar. He's sympathetic and says that, if Naomi approaches him, he'll defend us."

"Then Cas is set to stay here?" Dean asked; the hope he felt was evident in his voice.

Gabriel nodded. "Yep."

"Awesome!" Cas and Dean exchanged a high five, then everyone fell silent as they finished eating. Luci wandered into the kitchen during their silence, and all eyes followed the boarder collie as she slurped water loudly from her dish. A thought occurred to Gabriel as they watched her.

"Cassie, make sure you turn your phone off. Mom has GPS on it."

"I'm already a step ahead of you."

"Good. Dean-o, I'll need your phone number. And Sam's too, just in case I can't reach you." Gabriel said. Dean could just sense how his brother was going to jump at that opportunity. Dean stood and took the now empty plates. He placed them in the sink before nodding to Gabriel.

"Sounds like a plan."

Sam passed Gabriel his phone, and Dean recited his number from memory since his stuff was still out in the car. Afterwards, the three boys escorted Gabriel to the door, where he exited much like he had that morning.

"Bye Dean-o. Moose. Cassie."

"Bye Gabe." They all chanted together.

Sam turned to Dean as soon as Gabriel was out of sight. "Jess and I are going to go see a movie tonight, since it's Friday."

"What movie?"

"Captain America two."

"Nerds." Dean teased. Cas chuckled from his spot between the brothers.

"Oh, come on! You've already seen it twice. Plus, it's at a drive-in." Sam defended.

"Ooo, so special."

"Whatever." Sam rolled his eyes and headed for the couch.

"Is she picking you up?"

"Yeah."

"'Kay. Cas and I'll be in my room. Just make sure it's Jess before you open the door." Dean cautioned.

"Will do."

When the door was closed behind them, both Dean and Cas let out a sigh. They caught each others' eyes and cracked awkward grins.

"Dean, I never asked, but it is okay with you that I stay here? I just kind of assumed..." Castiel trailed off as Dean put his arm around his shoulders.

"Of course I want you here. I wouldn't be able to keep you safe anywhere else." He replied with a shrug, as if stating the obvious. Cas leaned against him, and this time Dean didn't deny that the warmth of Cas' side sent a shiver through his body.

"What time is it?" Cas asked randomly.

Dean glanced at the digital clock next to his bed and groaned. "It's only seven thirty." He couldn't believe it. The day had been long enough already, and it still wasn't over?

Cas seemed in-tune with how tired Dean was, and he gently pushed Dean toward his bed.

"I'm going to go get band-aids from the bathroom, you get ready for bed."

Dean opened his mouth to protest, but Cas cut him off. "You look like you're about to drop."

Dean gave in, and after Cas closed the door behind him, he pulled out pajamas from his dresser. Then he sat on his bed and waited for Cas.

When Cas came back in, he tossed the box of band-aids at Dean, who fumbled with them until they fell to the floor. Luci trotted inside and jumped on Dean's bed. She circled around the pillows, then sprawled out on both of them. Cas closed the door.

"Sorry. Sam says he's leaving now."

"Awesome." Dean said non-nonchalantly. He picked up the band-aids as Cas sat next to him and gingerly pulled off his shirt. It was the same one as he'd been wearing yesterday, and it spurred a thought in Dean. He brought it up while they pulled off the old bandages.

"Cas, what about your stuff? Like clothes, school supplies, that stuff?"

"Shit."

"And when did you start cussing?" Dean chastised.

Cas chuckled. "I found it's way to rebel that my mom couldn't punish me for."

"Ah."

"Gabriel can probably grab my stuff. Can I borrow your phone to text him?"

"Yeah. Let those air out and I'll go get it. I left it in the car." He said, then he got up and exited his room with another peace-sign to Cas.

Dean grabbed his keys from the hook next to the back door and went outside. As he was getting his backpack, he saw a headlights and turned to find a familiar car coming down the road. It was far enough down the street that Dean knew the driver couldn't seem him, so he quickly grabbed his backpack and raced into the house through the backdoor. He went directly to his room after making sure that both the front and back doors were locked, and that all the lights were off. Thankfully, Sammy had turned most of them off. Then he went to his room and also locked that door.

He put a finger to his lips to signal silence, and Cas nodded. Dean turned off his light, then sat next to Cas and rifled through his backpack. He found his phone and gave it to Cas, who shot a quick text to Gabriel. He gave the phone back to Dean, and he created a new message and typed something. Then he handed it to Cas.

**i think i saw naomis car on my street**

Cas took a deep breath and looked at Dean. Dean felt a wave of compassion as he saw how scared Cas was at the mere mention of his mother. He put an arm around Cas' waist and pulled him closer. Cas typed a message.

**What do we do?**

He handed the phone back to Dean, who replied, **pretend were not home**

**What about the car? She'll know you're home.**

**yeah but im sleeping. i sleep like a rock**

Dean gave the phone back to Cas since it dinged with a new text, and relocated the band-aid box. He applied new ones to Cas' cuts while Cas sent another message to Gabriel. Then they both crawled under the covers and snuggled next to one another with their legs tangled and foreheads resting against each others'. After pushing Luci out of the way, of course. She relocated to their feet.

"For the record, Cas, you're _always _a sap." Dean whispered. Cas winked at him, then closed his eyes and gave Dean a quick kiss on the nose.

"Only for the one I love." He whispered back. Dean didn't respond. He couldn't even if he wanted to. He was frozen, staring at Cas, absorbing the feeling of lips on his nose. Of Cas' lips. Chapped and soft. Just like he'd always imagined.

"Dean?" Cas had reopened his eyes, and somewhere in the depths of Dean's brain it registered that he looked worried.

"Loading." Dean responded quietly. Cas chuckled.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Both boys stiffened. They waited in silence, breathing as quietly as they could. The knock came again. And again. Again. Again. Silence. They heard a car engine start, then the sound faded away.

They both released their breath; neither had realized that they were holding it.

"She's gone." Cas said. Dean nodded and relaxed against Cas with his head nuzzled in Cas' shoulder.

"Night, Cas."

"So you _can_ talk. Night." Cas teased. On the spur of the moment, he moved his hand from between them and carded his hands in Dean's hair.

Dean fell asleep quickly, and Cas followed suit sometime after. He was caught up in thoughts of his mother.

A/N: Sorry for the long gap! I hit some _serious _writer's block. I think I've got my feet back though. Let's all cross our fingers! Also, if there are any typos or weird things, let me know! ~


	21. Mission: Impossible

He couldn't take it anymore. He had been locked in his house nearly all summer, and he just couldn't stay anymore. It didn't matter what mom said or did, he just couldn't handle it! So he waited next to his door and listened. He knew his brother was downstairs watching T.V., and that he would have to sneak passed him, too. He also was very aware that his mother was in the kitchen making dinner. She was within hearing range of the front door.

And that was why he was going through a window instead. As quietly as he could, he opened the door to his room and slunk into the hallway. He closed it behind himself, then crawled down the stairs just as quietly. He slipped through the banister at the bottom and crept through the living room.

Unfortunately, Gabriel noticed him. He stared at Castiel–who had a finger held to his lips–with a worried look. Gabriel nodded slightly, then Castiel continued to the guest bedroom that was at the back of the house. The door was open, and Castiel slipped around it and tiptoed over to the window. He opened it silently, and pushed out the screen. It was a good thing his mother had bought easy-escape screens. At least he could thank her for that.

He hopped out of the house, and lifted the screen back in place. At least, he tried as best as he could. When it was balanced, he skirted the edge of the house until he was in a corner of where the fence met the side of their house. He used an old bicycle as a balance to help himself climb over the fence. He nearly fell at least twice, but eventually he made it up and over the fence. He was free.

He made a mad dash down the street. It was the opposite direction of where he wanted to go, but he knew his escape was going to be a step by step process. Step one, leave home, was complete. Step two, get to Dean's, had begun.

It was a long walk to the Winchesters' house. Castiel had no idea what time it was, since he didn't have a phone or a watch with him. He did, however, know he had left at about six. So it was sometime after then.

By the time he got to their street, though, the sun was setting. And by the time he knocked on their door, the sun had set. So he guessed that it was now about seven.

Sam answered. He peered up at Castiel for a moment, before recognizing him.

"Dean!" He hollered. Then he turned back to Castiel and waved him inside. Castiel followed him inside. The Winchesters' dog, Luci, came out of what he remembered as Mary and Johns' bedroom before they followed her.

"Sammy, Dean's not here." Mary said to her son, before noticing Castiel. Her face lit-up at the sight of him.

"Castiel! Hello. What are you doing here?" She asked kindly. John was leaning on the door frame to their bedroom, and he gave Castiel a friendly wave.

"I came to see Dean."

"I'm sorry, honey, you missed him. He's at baseball practice." Mary said, giving him an apologetic smile.

"Oh. I'm sorry." Castiel felt awkward, now. He wondered if Dean had told his parents about Castiel's text.

The awkwardness didn't last. Castiel felt a tug on the sleeve of his coat, and looked to find Sam pulling on it.

"Cas, you should play with me! I bet I'll beat you at tennis!" He squeaked. Castiel smiled down at him before looking up at Dean's parents for permission. They both smiled at nodded at them, then Sam nearly dragged him down to the basement.

Castiel still beat Sam at tennis, just as he always had. The almost-fifth grader flopped on the couch in defeat after their fifth game. Castiel smiled down at him.

"You've gotta practice, Sam! You'll never beat me otherwise." He teased. Sam threw his hands in the air dramatically.

"I can't beat anyone except Dean, and he won't play with me because he's a sore loser!"

"Castiel!" Mary's voice called from the top of the stairs, and both boys turned to look, even though they couldn't actually see her.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Your mom is here."

Castiel felt dread course through him. Of course. He knew she would show up at some point, but he'd been hoping to see Dean beforehand. His escape hadn't even been worth it.

He trudged up the stairs to find his mother waiting in the living room. He didn't see John or Luci, and guessed that they'd gone to pick up Dean. He'd been so close. If only she'd come later.

His mother bid Mary goodbye, then guided Castiel to her car by his arm. She shoved him in the passenger seat, then went around to her side. As soon as she pulled out of the driveway, she began furiously yelling at Castiel. He didn't pay attention, though. Especially not after they passed a black, classic, Chevrolet Impala on the way out of Dean's street.

A/N: This happened the summer before Cas&Dean's freshman year. Just in case I didn't make it clear. Which I'm fairly sure I didn't. :s


	22. Couches

The plan worked soundlessly for a week. Castiel and Dean went to school together in the Impala, and checked in with as soon as they arrived. His teachers didn't ask where he'd been, and they marked him as absent without question. The only one who raised a little hell was Mr. Crowley. He protested the lack of contact he would have with Castiel since he didn't have his phone. Dean ended up giving his number to the teacher to satisfy him.

Gabriel brought over Castiel's backpack, two copies of 'The Scarlet Letter', and some clothing, saying that Naomi would never notice the items' absence. Even if she did, Gabriel promised he wouldn't tell her anything. She hadn't even known that he'd been in the house.

Gabriel came over once a day in the evening to check on Cas, despite the fact that Cas basically kept Dean's phone during the day to keep in contact with Crowley and his brother. Cas had expressed apologies to Dean, but he just waved him off after getting a promise that he would be alerted if Sam needed anything.

Balthazar, Gabriel's friend on the police force, came with him Wednesday night. He told the boys that Naomi had come to the station with a missing person report, and that he was personally overseeing the case. He seemed to be well aware of how abusive Naomi was. Balthazar did express concern over the lack of adult supervision, but Gabriel made a joke of how he wasn't _that _much of a child, so the thought slipped out of everyone's minds.

The second week didn't go over quite as well. Naomi came to the school three days in a row, and once, she barely missed Castiel. On Tuesday, his science teacher had to hide him in a cabinet under one of the sinks at the request of Mr. Henriksen. That was how Castiel found out that his teachers and the office staff had a code to keep him hidden from his mother. Chuck barely managed to get him under his desk before Naomi and Mr. Henriksen came into the English classroom.

It was beyond Castiel's understanding as to why everyone was being so helpful to his situation. On Friday, he and Dean were nestled on the Winchesters' couch, watching television when he finally voiced this.

"What do you mean, why? Cas, your mom is a mess! We're all trying to keep you safe."

"But _why_?"

"Because you're important to everyone who knows you."

Cas scoffed. "Uh-huh."

"Well, you're important to me." Dean defended quietly. Cas grinned mischievously, and, T.V. forgotten, he turned his torso so that he was facing Dean

"How important?"

Dean glanced at him out of the side of his eye and raised an eyebrow. "Very?"

"Wrong answer."

Dean readjusted so that he was facing Cas, then said, "I'd sell Baby for you."

"Still not what I'm looking for."

Dean narrowed his eyes. "I'd sell Sammy."

"Close but no cigar. Plus, child slavery is illegal."

"Damnit, Cas."

They both laughed, then Cas scooted closer on the couch until he was leaning somewhat over Dean, then said boldly, "Would you say that I'm important enough for a kiss?"

Dean stared at him. Then he grinned and put his arm around the back of Cas' neck and pulled him in for a kiss.

Castiel forgot how to breathe when he felt his lips touch Dean's. Dean noticed this and pulled back, gazing at Cas with an amused expression. _Maybe this is Cas' first kiss. Or maybe..._ Dean stopped his thoughts right there. The question still lingered in his mind, but he could wait. Right now, his best fri–boyfriend–needed his attention.

"You okay there, Cas?" He said, unable to hide his amusement. Cas took a deep, ragged breath, then breathed out one word: "No."

Dean's brow crinkled in concern. "What's wrong?"

"You stopped." He said, and he sounded so lost that Dean couldn't help himself. He laughed.

"'Cuz you stopped breathing! Don't have a heart-attack on me, dude!"

"Sorry."

"It's okay." Dean cooed, giving Cas a flirty look. Cas rolled his eyes at the act while he moved so that he was straddling Dean's hips.

"Can we try again?" He asked, his tone almost shy. Dean nodded, and this time Cas leaned in.

Castiel closed his eyes as he felt his heart flutter this time, and wondered if he _was_ actually having a heart-attack. But then his stomach did the same thing, and he narrowed it down to how _amazingly soft _Dean's lips felt on his own. Subconsciously, thread his fingers in Dean's hair and put a hand on his shoulder for balance. He felt Dean place his hands on either side of his hips, then Dean's thumbs snuck under his shirt and began tracing circles on his skin. The warmth made Cas lean closer to Dean, which Dean responded to by tracing Cas' bottom lip with his tongue. The new sensation sent ripples down Cas' spine and he made a guttural noise that he'd never heard come out of his mouth before. Dean smiled against his lips, and Cas suddenly felt like he was on cloud nine. _God only knows how long I've waited for this._

Dean's tongue pushed between Cas' lips, and he relaxed so that Dean's tongue could access his mouth. Castiel stilled as yet another new sensation rolled through him. This was better than anything he'd every dreamed of. Not that he would admit those dreams to Dean.

Suddenly, Sam's voice carried out from the hall, but it died off into a sound of disgust.

"Dean, is dinner ready...ugh. Gross! Never mind!"

Dean and Cas broke apart and peered over the couch at Sam, who was hastily retreating to his room. Neither of them had heard his door open, and were both surprised at the interruption. They watched him go into his room, and laughed when he said, "Luci, you better stay in here, they're being _gross. _Your doggie eyes don't need that."

Cas rolled off of Dean, and they both went into the kitchen, where Dean had a pizza cooking in the oven. He pulled it out while Cas set the table with plates and napkins. Then Dean went and fetched Sam while Cas cut the pizza.

The trio sat at the table, and for the moment, all was right in the world.

A/N: I used a cliche, for which I apologize. Things are really not alright with the world. Now, the weather.


	23. Devil In Disguise

Dean was flipping through one of the school yearbooks when a picture caught his eye and made him pause. It was from a few years ago, maybe fourth grade, of himself and Castiel. They were sitting on the jungle gym of their school playground, and grinning at the camera. Both boys had matching green tee-shirts and basketball shorts on.

Dean sighed and pushed the book off his bed before flopping face-first into the mattress. It had only been two weeks since Cas–_Castiel_–had kicked him out of his life. A week. And Dean had already run out of tolerance for the bullshit message his _best friend_ had sent him.

Maybe he should do something about it besides moping in his room. Maybe, he should just walk right up to Castiel's door and give that no-good, ungrateful, selfish _asshat_ a piece of his mind.

_Yeah. Maybe I'll just _do_ that. _Dean thought, and he rolled off of his bed before he could talk himself out of it.

His mother was lounging on the couch with Luci at her feet when Dean passed by, headed for the back door.

"Dean? Where are you going sweetie?" Mary asked, muting the television as she watched her son shove his feet into his shoes.

"Cas' house." he grumbled, pulling open the screen door, "I have my phone."

"Are you walking?" John's gruffer voice came from his parents' bedroom, and Dean shrugged.

"Yeah."

"If you want a ride, I'm happy to take you." John said, appearing from the room and leaning against the door frame.

Dean shook his head. "I'll walk."

"Okay, sweetie. Call if you need anything. Love you." Mary said, giving her son a wave.

Dean returned the wave and the sentiment before walking out the door and closing it behind him. As he walked, he kept fighting with himself over whether he should or shouldn't turn back and give up. He knew Castiel wouldn't be thrilled to see him, but he just _had _to know. Especially since Castiel himself had shown up at Dean's house last week looking for him.

Maybe Cas was having second thoughts. Maybe, Cas missed Dean just as much as Dean missed him.

Maybe.

Or, maybe Castiel had meant what he had said. Maybe Castiel didn't want Dean anymore. At all.

Dean just couldn't figure out why. He didn't believe Cas' excuse of "busy". Cas had been so much busier long before that text, and they'd made time for one another.

Maybe that was it. Castiel was just tired of making time for Dean. Because he didn't like Dean anymore. Because he _hated _him. Disliked his company. No longer wanted him.

_No matter what reason_, Dean thought, steeling himself, _I still need to know._

Dean felt a drop of water on his arm, then one on his head, and one on his cheek. They dragged him out of his thoughts, and he realized that he was already on Cas' street. He stopped at the corner and stared at Castiel's house. It was the same as it's always been. Naomi's Honda was parked in the driveway. Castiel and Gabriel had left their bikes on the front lawn, helmet strewn in the grass. The garage door was open, and it was then that Dean knew they were home. Guaranteed.

It was also then that he felt a twinge in his stomach. He tried to push down the sudden rush of nerves as he forced his feet across the road and toward the Novaks' front door. He knocked only three times before it was swung open and Gabriel was staring at him. Dean cleared his throat and shuffled his feet, feeling awkward under the scrutiny. Before anything else could happen, though, Gabriel put a finger to his lips, pushed open the door, and beckoned for Dean to follow him. The second Dean stepped inside, Gabriel grabbed his arm and rushed him up the stairs and into his own room. Once the door was closed, he turned to Dean with a confused expression.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He hissed.

"I want to talk to Cas." Dean whispered back. He wasn't sure as to why Gabriel was trying to keep his presence hushed up, but something in the older boy's face told him that he should just play along.

"That is _not_ a good idea."

"Why not?"

Gabriel didn't answer and was silent for a moment. Then he sighed in defeat. "Fine. Just shut up and stay here."

Dean sat on the floor and leaned against Gabriel's bed while the older boy went out of his room and closed the door behind him. He returned moments later, dragging Castiel behind him.

As soon as Cas saw Dean, his mouth dropped open.

"Gabe–?"

"Shh!" Gabriel snapped, then he pushed Cas at Dean. "You guys have to be _quiet _or mom is going to have all of our asses!" He hissed. He leaned against his door and slid to the ground, leaving Castiel as the only person standing in the room. He was staring at Dean, blank-faced. Dean noticed that Castiel had a cast on his arm, and the curious thought of what had happened flitted in and out of his mind.

"Cas?" Dean whispered, giving him a brief, hopeful smile. Castiel did not return it.

"I thought I told you," he paused and took a shuttering breath before continuing, pushing the words through his teeth, "to stay away."

Dean felt his stomach drop. Castiel really didn't want him. Shit. He shouldn't be here. But Dean found himself rooted to the spot. Unable to look away from the endless azure of Castiel's eyes.

"I'm sorry." He whispered. Castiel glared at him, but Dean hadn't spent eight years of his life with the kid to miss the flash of emotion that streaked across Castiel's face at his words.

Gabriel cleared his throat. Both boys stiffened and turned to him.

"Cassie, I love you, but you're full of shit." Gabriel whispered at him. "Dean's here for the truth, so give it to him."

Dean perked up at that, and all of the positive maybes from his walk tumbled through his mind.

He watched Castiel sit on the carpet between himself and Gabriel. Castiel played with the ends of his jeans before he looked up at Dean. Immediately Dean noticed the change in Cas' demeanor. He seemed uncomfortable, remorseful, sad, and defensive all at once. Dean had to fight the urge to get up and hug his best friend. _If that's what he still is._

"I can't." Castiel finally choked out. He avoided Dean's eyes, instead glaring at the floor. "I just can't."

Dean couldn't tell whether the words were directed at Gabriel or himself, but neither said anything. They let the words hang in the air, and waited for Castiel to elaborate.

Eventually, he did. "You've just got to stay away, Dean. For my safety, and yours. You shouldn't even _be_ here."

Dean felt a spike of defensiveness himself, and he glared at Cas. "First you give me some bullshit about being too busy for me, then you say that it's for safety reasons? What the fuck, man? We're best friends! I deserve more than one word answers for getting kicked out of your life." He hissed.

Castiel's head snapped up. "I'm not..." he floundered, and Dean snorted.

"Yes you are."

Castiel didn't try to deny it this time. He just turned back to the floor with sagging shoulders. A few minutes of silence passed before Dean huffed and got to his feet. Castiel did as well.

"Fine, then. I'll leave." He snapped, heading for the door. Castiel didn't follow him. Instead, he stood with his back to his brother and Dean.

Gabriel jumped to his feet and held out a hand to hold Dean back. "Let me make sure it's safe."

Dean rolled his eyes and hissed, "What's the big deal?"

"Naomi can't know you're here." Gabriel snapped back. Dean cocked an eyebrow. _Since when did he start calling his mom by her first name? _

Gabriel cracked the door, only to jump back as it swung open. Dean stepped back as well, and Castiel turned around at their startled noises. All three boys stared at Naomi, who was staring at Dean with a look of pure disgust. That look almost instantly disappeared, and Dean wondered if he had imagined it. Naomi smiled wide, and waved at Dean. He stiffly waved back, then glanced at Gabriel. He was glaring at his mother with what looked like hatred. What on earth was going on with Cas' family?

"Dean! What a surprise. You boys didn't tell me he was here." She said, turning to Gabriel, then Castiel. Dean pretended not to notice the way her eyes narrowed slightly when she looked at Cas.

"He was just leaving. He just came to drop off a CD he'd borrowed from me." Cas said hurriedly. Naomi nodded, understanding playing on her face.

"Well, it was nice to see you, Dean." She said with a smile, then walked away down the hallway, toward where Dean remembered her room was.

Gabriel's hand clasped his upper arm and he ushered Dean down the stairs and out onto the porch. Castiel trailed behind.

"See ya, Dean." Gabriel said, then he trudged back upstairs. Castiel stood with the door open, and his face was only a mask of horror as he stared at Dean.

"I'm sorry. Dean, just know that I am _so sorry_." He said, and the tremble of his voice told Dean that he wasn't lying.

"Yeah, well, whatever. Bye, Cas_tiel._" Dean sent the guy one last glare before he turned and stalked away from the house. He did not, however, miss the whimpered reply.

"Goodbye, Dean."

A/N: Sorry for the slow update. I'm tied up in reading "Out of the Deep" on AO3. If you're into destiel, check it out. Anykittens, I hope you enjoy, and I'll try to update in a more timely manner. ~


	24. Sirens

While he had been inside Castiel's house, it had started raining. By the time he was at the end of Castiel's block, it was pouring. Dean hadn't brought his jacket, and his shirt was already soaked. He raced for the nearest tree as a flash of lightning streaked across the sky.

_There's no way I'm walking home in this. _

He curled up on the ground under the trunk and pulled out his phone. It only rang twice before his mother's voice answered.

"Dean?"

"Mom. Can you come get me? I don't wanna walk in the rain."

"Sure thing sweetie. Are you still at Cas' house?"

Dean took a shaky breath, and flinched at how loud it was. When he couldn't keep the tremble out of his voice, he knew his mom was going to be worried.

"Sorta. I'm under a tree on his street."

"Is he not home?"  
"Sorta."

"Just stay where you are sweetie, we'll be right there. Love you." The urgency in his mother's voice was impossible to miss, and Dean felt a bit guilty at making her worried. He was also relieved that she didn't pry.

"Okay mom. Love you."

Dean hung up first, then shoved the phone back into his pocket. He looked up to find a figure running at him through the rain. Dean stood up, unwilling to be caught in a compromising position. He relaxed slightly when he saw that the figure was Castiel. He was wearing a red zip-hoodie, and bundled in his arms was the tan trench coat that he had inherited from his father.

Castiel came to a running stop in front of Dean and shoved the trench coat at him. Then he sat against the tree trunk. Dean sat next to him and draped the coat over his knees. He stared at Castiel, unsure as to what to say. Castiel was watching his shoes, and not saying anything. Maybe that was for the best.

Twenty minutes passed, and Dean checked his phone for any missed calls. His parents should be here by now, but they weren't. His voice mail was empty. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cas glance at him.

"My parents should be here." Dean offered in explanation. Castiel nodded absently. Dean dialed his dad's cellphone number. It went instantly to voice mail. He tried his mom's. Same thing. Dean huffed in frustration and dropped his phone on the ground. He tried to ignore the stab of concern in his stomach.

"They won't answer." He turned to Cas, who looked as concerned as he felt.

"Maybe we should go back inside."  
"No. I told them I was waiting here." Dean shook his head, then picked up his phone and fiddled with it.

"Okay." Castiel turned back to his shoes.

"Do you think something happened?" Dean asked. He was feeling slightly frantic. About ten minutes ago there had been the sound of sirens, but they were so far away and muffled, that Dean had forgotten about them. Now, however, the memory of sirens burst to the forefront of his mind.

"I–."

"Shit! The sirens! Do you think...?" Dean stared, wide-eyed, at Castiel, who merely shrugged.

"I don't know."

Dean tried to call his parents again, before he called his house instead. Sammy answered, wailing.

"Dean! W-w-wh-here ar-re y-you? The p-police are h-here and they s-s-say mom and d-dad got hit!"

Dean could tell Sammy was crying even over the phone, and he felt his heart drop to his stomach.

"Shit, Sammy! I was at Cas'!" Dean said, his voice trembling as Sammy's words sunk in. His parents had been in a car accident. The police were at his house. Sammy was all alone.

It was the last thought that kept Dean going.

"Dean!"

"Shh, it's okay Sammy. I'll be right there. Can I talk to one of the policemen?" He said, fighting to keep his voice steady.

"Is this Dean Winchester?" A woman's voice asked.

"Yes ma'am."

"I'm sorry to have to tell you, but your parents were just in a car accident. A semi-truck hit them after blowing a stop sign. They are currently at the hospital. Where are you?"

"At a friends house."

"Can they bring you home? Or would you like me to pick you up and bring you home?"

"Could you?" Dean asked without hesitation. There was no way he was asking Castiel for a ride home.

"Yes. Tell me how to get there."

Dean described how to get to Castiel's house from his own, then the police officer hung up the phone. He turned to Castiel, who was watching him in concern.

"My parents got in a car accident." He said, mentally wincing at how wobbly his voice sounded. He didn't like to show weakness, but he couldn't fight it anymore.

"Are they okay?" Castiel asked as if he was

"The officer didn't tell me. They're at the hospital."

"Can I help?"

"Well, she's picking me up at your house. Could we wait on the porch?"

"Yes. If my mom asks, what should I tell her?"

"The truth?" Dean said, confused as to why Castiel would want to lie to Naomi. He briefly wondered when Castiel had changed so much that he felt he had to lie to everyone.

"Okay." Castiel said. He stood up and held a hand out to Dean. Dean just gave Castiel his coat and stood up. The rain was still coming down hard, so they ran across to Castiel's house after making sure that it was safe to cross the street. They had barely sat down on the edge of the porch when they saw the flashing lights of a police car through the sheen of rain. Castiel turned to Dean, as if he wanted to say something, but he just shut his mouth and turned away.

The car pulled up to the curb of the house and jolted to a halt. A police officer got out of the passenger seat and waved to the boys. Dean stood, and with one last glance at Castiel, headed down to the car.

He got in the back to find Sammy already there. The officer retook his seat up front, then the car began moving. Dean spared a glance back at Castiel's house and saw that Castiel was still watching him.

"We're taking you two to the hospital." The female officer's voice came from the driver's seat, and Dean just nodded numbly. He took Sammy's hand and gave it a squeeze. He could see the tear tracks down his brother's face, along with newly forming tears brimming his eyes.

Dean fought his own tears. Dread was circling in his stomach, and he just _knew _that something bad had happened.


	25. Telephone

"Hey, Cas?" Dean asked from the opposite end of the couch. The boys were upstairs working on homework while Sam and Jess played video games downstairs. It was a Monday night, but neither Dean nor Jess' parents minded Sam and Jess spending time together.

"Yeah, Dean?"

Castiel looked up from the math homework he was working on, giving Dean his attention instead.

"You remember the night my parents died, right?"

"Yeah."

"What the hell happened?" Dean asked sincerely, placing his own math book on the floor. He hadn't been paying attention to it for the last half-hour; he'd been lost in memories.

"I'm not sure what you mean." Cas asked, head tilted and eyes narrowed in confusion. Dean ignored the way the gesture made his heart flutter.

"When I got there you seemed super pissed. But then when the cops came, you looked ready to apologize."

Cas shrugged and turned back to his work. "Yeah. I wanted to, but I didn't."

"You could've saved us years of hell if you'd just told me what was going on." Dean said after a moment. Cas looked up with his eyes narrowed.

"I know that. I just wasn't ready to tell you."

"Why?"

"Because, my mom flipped her shit when I told her I was gay. I didn't want to see you do the same." Cas looked back down at his notebook, but his pencil was frozen in his hand. Dean sighed and ran a hand through his hair before he got up and crossed the short distance to lean over Cas.

"I wouldn't have."

"Really?" Cas didn't hide his skepticism from his voice. Dean took a moment to consider. He had, of course, known that Cas was gay at the time. In fact, he'd known for a few years prior. It was just a part of who Castiel Novak was. It hadn't really ever bothered Dean that Cas had never told him. It wasn't necessarily his business to know, even though they were best friends. If Cas had told him that night what was really going on, Dean knew the only thing that would've surprised him would be Naomi's involvement.

"Really. My reaction would've been the same as it was when you actually _did _tell me."

"Oh."

Dean grinned, then leaned in and gave Cas a quick kiss on his forehead.

"That's all you got? 'Oh'?" He mocked, making Cas pout.

"Yeah, well..."

Dean laughed as Cas floundered for some kind of defense. Then he thought of another question that had been teasing his mind.

"Cas?"

"Hmm?"

"How long have you, ya know, liked me?"

Cas blushed then, and Dean grinned at that response. "A while."

"Come on, Cas. Tell me. Then...I'll tell you." Dean said, and it was his turn to blush. He didn't stop smiling though, especially when Cas squirmed.

"Sometime during seventh grade."

"Wow. Same." Dean grunted without hesitation.

"Yeah. Wait, so, let me get this straight. You, Dean Winchester, a.k.a. The school's very own womanizer, have had a crush on me since _seventh grade_?"

Dean ducked his head. "Yeah."

"How is that even possible?"

"Have you even met you? Cas, you're awesome. Totally crush-worthy." He smirked at Cas, who rolled his eyes.

"You're cute when you're blushing." Cas observed, and Dean pushed himself away from Cas and sat back on his end of the couch.

"Shut up. Sap." He said as he picked up his math book.

Cas giggled, and Dean gave him a strangled look.

"You're horrible."

"And _you _are dating horrible." Cas shot back. Dean rolled his eyes and groaned. He dropped his head back on the couch and closed his eyes, only to start when the doorbell rang. They froze as Luci started barking, then rushed into action. Cas raced into Dean's parents' room after shoving his homework underneath the couch. Dean waited until the door had closed before he went over to Luci and hushed her. He looked through the peephole and felt a spear of dread before he opened the door.

Naomi looked like she had just rolled out of bed, despite the pantsuit she was wearing. Her dark hair was tousled into a messy, knotted bun, and her eyes looked puffy and red as if she'd been crying a lot. Her face looked haunted. She had her arms hugging her sides when Dean opened the door, and she gave him a kind smile.

"Hello, Dean. Listen, Castiel has run away from home. It's been weeks, and I can't find him anywhere. I know you two had a falling out, but I was wondering if you've heard from him at all?" She asked. It took her time to get the words out, and Dean could tell that she was trying to seem put together. Seeing Cas' mother like this made Dean feel a bit guilty. Naomi was still Cas' mom. He was still her son. Yes, she treated him like shit, but she was still a parent. For a brief moment, Dean thought of ways to try and relieve her misery, but he couldn't think of anything solid, so he just shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Novak. I haven't heard anything. Mr. Henriksen told me that he ran away, but that was weeks ago, when you came to the school. I haven't heard anything since."

He watched as Naomi steeled herself, then she nodded briskly.

"Thank you anyway, Dean. If you do hear anything, would you please call? I'm so worried."

Dean nodded. He honestly believed her. _Of course she's worried, I would be!_

"Absolutely. Goodnight, Mrs. Novak." He gave her a smile and a wave, which she returned.

"Goodnight, Dean." She said before walking down the drive and getting back into her car. Dean closed the door and watched her go through a crack in the blinds before going to find Cas.

"How is she?" The words are out of Cas' mouth before Dean can even properly shut the door.

"She didn't look so great. Maybe you should at least call her?" Dean suggested as he sat next to him on the bed. Cas' shoulders sagged and he dropped his head in his hands.

"I don't know what I would want to say to her."

"Hi, bye? Just so she knows you're okay." Dean pressed. He really had felt bad for Naomi.

Cas sighed. "Alright. Hand me a phone."

"What kind of house do you think we live in? Get your lazy ass to a corded phone." Dean said, bouncing off the bed with a forced chuckle. Cas rolled his eyes and followed Dean into the kitchen, where there was a phone hanging on the wall.

"I forgot how old school your parents were." Cas commented as he unhooked the phone and dialed in his house number. He and Dean made faces at each other from opposite ends of the dining table while it rang.

"Mom. This is Castiel."

Dean gave him one last smile of encouragement before Cas focused on his mother.

"Yes. I'm safe."

"I'm not going to tell you where I am."

"Because...I don't trust you, mom."

"How could I? The last time I trusted you with something important, you ruined my entire life."

"No, I'm not having some _teenage phase, _Naomi." Cas snapped, shooting Dean an apologetic look. Dean waved it off. Cas had every right to be pissed.

"The last time I trusted you was when I told you about my sexuality, and you threw that trust right back in my face. So no, I am _not _going to tell you where I am."

"I don't care if you go to the police. I'll tell them that you're an abusive mother."

"Because you are!"

"Why the hell should I be grateful for...Bullshit. That's bullshit and you know it. I'm happy just the way I am."

"Well I don't want to come home. Ever."

"No. We can't. You're too shoved up in your own head to give a damn about me. You're so worried about–SHUT UP." Cas shouted, causing Dean to start and look up from where he'd been fiddling with his pant leg. Cas was glaring at the wall. _Wonder what she said?_

"Leave Dean _out_ of this, mom. It is not his _fault_ that I'm gay! It's no one's _fault. _It's who I am and I honestly don't understand why you have such a _fucking problem with it_!"

"Did I not just tell you–."

"Yes, we are friends again."

"_I don't care!_"

"Yes, I was _there_ when you said that."

"You can't choose who I'm friends with."

"You can't choose who I love, either. You're not my puppet-master."

"Look, all I wanted to say was that I'm alive. I'm safe. Stop pretending to give a shit about me and just go away."

Cas stood and slammed the phone back into it's hook against the wall. Then he retook his seat and dropped his head to the table. Dean kept fiddling with the strings of his pant leg.

"Dean?"

"Yeah?" Dean looked up and felt his heart flutter at the squinty-look Cas was giving him. That was the second time today, and this time Dean couldn't ignore it. The answer to _why is my heart doing that _flitted across his thoughts before he shoved it away and focused on Cas.

"I'm sorry you had to hear that."

"Nah. It's no big." He said easily. It really wasn't. Cas had needed to assure Naomi of his safety. They both knew she would start arguing with him again.

They fell into a comfortable silence, merely watching each others' eyes. Dean observed that Cas was thinking critically about something, and it made him curious. Eventually he asked.

"What'cha thinkin'?"

Cas hesitated mere seconds before narrowed his eyes again. "How many guys have you dated?"

"None. I've done stuff with some guys, though."

"Who?"

"Cas, I'm not going to share my naughty deeds with you." Dean said, flashing him a smile before winking. Cas didn't react.

"Yes you are."

"No."

"Yep."

"You can't make me tell you anything." Dean leaned back in the chair and crossed him arms over his chest. Cas finally grinned.

"I'm an actor, Dean. I _know_ how to get around your walls. Consider it my objective."

"Are you seriously trying to give me an acting lesson right now?"

Cas' grin didn't falter. He got up from his chair and crossed the room to Dean. He pulled Dean's chair out and turned it so that it was facing him.

"I'm seriously giving you all _sorts_ of lessons."

Dean felt his heart skip a beat. _Stop that. _He thought at it. Now was so not the time for heart palpitations.

"Please tell me that means what I think it does." Dean said, ignoring the way his voice sounded breathy. Cas just winked. Then he held out a hand to Dean.

"We should probably relocate to your room. Ya know, since Sam and Jess are here."

"Good idea. And, Cas?"

Cas turned his head slightly to catch Dean's words as he lead him down the hallway. "Hmm?"

"It's _our _room."

A/N: Are you guys ready for sauciness? I should probably change the rating. We'll see. Hopefully I won't take as long to update. I apologize for the hiatus. ~Tharesa


	26. Saucy

Cas hardly let Dean close the door before he pressed him against it with his hands pinning Dean's wrists to the wood. Their faces were mere centimeters away, and Dean could read the mischief in Cas' eyes as plain as day.

"So. Who?"

Dean groaned. "I'm _so _not telling."

"Then it looks like I'll have to make you." Cas said slowly, before he dipped his head under Dean's chin.

The press of lips against his skin sent a shiver through Dean. He took a shaky breath.

"You'll have to try harder than that, Cas." He teased, trying to prevent his voice from betraying how he felt. Not that he could really hide it from Cas. He knew him too well.

Dean was wholly unprepared for the sharp nip of teeth followed by a hard suck.

"Let's at least start with how many."

Dean pretended that his body hadn't twitched at the gruff voice against his throat. "Two."

"Ha. See, I'm already break through those walls."

"Whatever gets you through the night, Novak." He couldn't help the smirk that found it's way to his face.

"Alright, _Winchester, _you're on."

Cas' grip on Dean's wrists tightened, then he lifted them above Dean's head. He adjusted so that they were both clamped in one hand, then brought the other down to Dean's hip. He sucked at a different spot on Dean's neck.

"Now, give me the first name."

"No."

"Dean." Cas growled, and this time Dean couldn't ignore his body's reaction. He pushed against the restraint of Cas' hands, only to be pushed harder against the door.

"Oh, no. Don't you dare."

"Fine. His name was Aaron."

"Tell me more." Cas said, sliding his fingers under the end of Dean's shirt. He began pressing circles into Dean's skin. The heat of his fingers coursed through Dean's body, and his heart stuttered. He'd forgotten just how much he liked Cas. _He's gonna win this. _

"He was blon–."

"No, Dean!" Cas nearly giggled, and Dean cut off in confusion. "I meant, what did you _do?_"

"Oh. Went on a few dates. Made out a few times. Nothing special."

Cas moved to the spot right where his jaw bones connect and sucked a new mark. Dean couldn't hide the groan that escaped when he felt the scrape of teeth.

"Hmm. Now tell me about the second one."

"Benny." Dean grunted.

"Oh my God." Cas sounded pained and amused. Dean rolled his eyes. Benny was the best baseball player on the school's team, which made him decently popular. _Of course that was his reaction._

"Don't judge me."

"So judging you."

Cas moved to a new spot.

"Tell me what you did."

"Made out in the locker rooms. That's it."

"Sexy."

"Ugh. Cas." Dean protested at the word, which made Cas laugh. Finally he brought his head level with Dean's again.

"See? Told you I'd make you share." He said, smiling proudly.

"Whatever. Show off."

Cas glanced at Dean's lips, then back up at Dean. He winked, and Cas leaned in. He pressed his lips to Dean's, then almost instantly began tracing the outline of his lips with his tongue. Dean cracked his mouth open slightly, and Cas pushed his way in. They moaned simultaneously at the warm press of their tongues together, which only made them break away with smiles.

"Cas?"

"Hmm?" Cas was looking at him through hooded lids, and Dean felt a spark of some unknown emotion. _The hell was that?_

"My hands are falling asleep." He said bluntly.

"Shit! Sorry." Cas dropped his hands immediately; the one in Dean's shirt slipped out. Dean caught his fingers before Cas could get too far away.

"It's okay. Wanna move to something more comfortable?" He asked, tipping his head toward the bed.

"'Kay." Cas said, and Dean couldn't miss the way his blue eyes widened when he took a deep breath.

"We'll only do as much as either of us wants. Sound good?" Dean asked, tugging on Cas' fingers to get him to follow. Cas nodded.

"Sounds good." He repeated.

Dean laid down on his bed and held still while Cas crawled over him and settled on his waist with a hand on either side of Dean's head. Cas looked as nervous as he felt, and it made him smile.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothin'. Get your face down here already." Dean chuckled, reaching up and putting his hand on Cas shoulder. Cas gave into Dean's touch and leaned down for a kiss. They stayed like that for a while, pressing lips and tongues against one another. After a while, Dean adjusted himself into a more comfortable position underneath Cas' weight. Cas made a little gasping sound, then pulled away from their kissing and nestled his head in the crook of Dean's neck.

"You okay, Cas?" Dean asked, once he'd caught his breath.

"Yeah. You just surprised me."

"Sorry."

Cas hummed against Dean's skin before giving him a little kiss that made him squirm. He lifted his head and gazed down at Dean with a placated smile on his lips.

"We should do that again sometime."

"Why not now?" Dean asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"'Cus I just heard the doorbell." Cas said, getting off of Dean and sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Oh. That's probably Jess' mom." Dean said, sitting up and smoothing his hair before getting up and heading for the door.

"I like her. She's a nice lady." Cas stepped in behind him, and ruffled his hair as they headed for the front door.

"Yeah. Asshole." Dean grumbled. Cas chuckled and ruffled his hair again before turning around and heading for the basement.

Dean checked through the peephole, then opened the door to greet Jess' mother, Tami Moore. They chatted about school while they went down to the basement. Tami was one of Dean's favourite people; she had never met his and Sam's parents and had only known the boys for two years, but she took it upon herself to make sure that they had everything they needed. It was on the rare occasion that they asked her for anything since Bobby took good care of them, but Dean and Sam truly appreciated her kindness.

"Hey, Jess! Mom's here." Dean called out as they walked down the stairs. They found Sam, Cas, and Jess sitting on the couch. The younger kids were playing Mario Kart while Cas watched.

Jess didn't even glance over her shoulder to acknowledge her mother. "Hey mom."

"Hey sweetie. Time to go."

"One second. I've almost got him!"

Tami and Dean shared a knowing expression. It was hard to pry Sam and Jess apart.

Jess beat Sam by a mere second, then put the controller on the ground and hopped over to her mom.

The group filed up the stairs and out of the house, where the boys hung back on the porch while Jess and Tami went to their car.

"Bye, Sam!" Jess hollered, waving as she got in the car. Sam grinned and waved back, then they all went back inside.

"I'm gonna do my homework. See ya guys in the morning." Sam said as he trucked off to his bed room.

"You told me you'd already done it!" Dean commented as he and Cas sat on the couch.

"Doubt you did yours!" Sam shot back from the hall right before they heard his door close. Dean rolled his eyes and gave Cas a mockingly exasperated look.

"Are you this much trouble for your big brother?"

"Considering my current location, I would say 'yes'."

That made them both laugh. They fell into another comfortable silence, merely gazing at one another. Eventually Cas shifted his legs, and that made Dean glance at the clock.

"Shit, it's almost ten. We should go to bed."

Cas yawned, then nodded solemnly. "That sounds like a fantastic idea."

They went through the getting-ready-for-bed routine mostly in silence, then crawled into bed next to one another. Dean leaned over Cas and shut off the lamp before teasingly flopping down on top of Cas. Air pushed out of Cas' lungs with a loud "oof!" before Cas whined at Dean to get off. Dean couldn't help but laugh as he curled against Cas' side.

"Night, Cas."

"Goodnight, assbutt." It was Cas' turn to fake exasperation. Then he carded his fingers in Dean's short hair as they closed their eyes and used each others' breaths to lull themselves to sleep.


	27. Panic

"You _what?_" Lisa shrieked, causing the entire table to fall into a confused silence. Dean glared at her. _Why did she have to eavesdrop? _

"I thought this drama was going to be a one time thing, brotha." Benny said with a hint of warning. Dean shot one final glare at Lisa before returning to the conversation he and Benny were having. The only difference now was that they entire table was listening.

"Sorta still is, Benny."

"Yeah, but, Dean, you can't just _abandon_ the team!" Lisa protested. This time both himself and Benny glared at her.

"He's doin' no such thing."

"No way! Baseball isn't until the spring semester anyway. You should know that, Lisa. You've only been to _every single game._" Dean snapped. Lisa looked sheepishly at the sandwich in her hands before she pretended to ignore them for it.

"Well, good luck to ya." Benny said giving Dean a thumbs-up. Dean was grateful for his support. At least one of his friends thought more of him than just another team mate.

Dean nodded. "Thanks. I'll need it."

"And what exactly _are_ you doing?" Michael's suspicious voice asked from the other end of the table.

"Auditioning for the fall play." Dean replied without looking at him.

"Damn, Dean. Which one of those theatre girls is making you do that, huh?" Michael said snarkily. Dean ignored him and gathered up his stuff instead. He gave Benny a goodbye salute before he headed off to math class.

As he walked down the hall to his locker, it crossed his mind that Michael might find out about Cas– specifically their relationship. Cas had already mentioned that it was Michael's mother who told Naomi about Dean's joining Drama. Michael was obviously the source of that information. Dean crossed his fingers as he hoped that Michael would mind his own business and leave him alone.

The door to his math class was locked, and Dean sat against the wall next to it as he waited for his teacher. He was five minutes early to class; the bell signaling passing-period hadn't even gone off yet. There was just no way he was going to stay at that table and let his teammates and their groupies mock him about theatre.

He'd gotten decent at acting a lot faster than he ever thought he would. Plus, he actually liked it, which was an unexpected bonus. Cas had even told him that Crowley was growing an affinity toward Dean, and that he'd said he wished Dean had started as a freshman. That had just made Dean blush, which in turn made Cas tease him.

That made him think of something. Had Cas told anyone about them? As far as Dean knew, the only one who knew Dean used to be a friend of Castiel's was Meg. He'd have to check with Cas to make sure, though. _I wish I could just text him. _

Dean didn't have to wait long, though. His math teacher interrupted his thought process, and he hauled himself and his backpack off of the floor before going inside. He organized his desk before he dumped his backpack in Cas' spot. It was a habit they'd picked up on both in this class and English when waiting for the other.

By the time the bell signaled the beginning of class, Cas hadn't showed. It made Dean anxious. He fidgeted with his pencil the entire class-period, and by the time the bell signaled the end of the day, Dean had already packed up his stuff and had his backpack over his shoulder. He bolted from the room and made a beeline for the drama room. It was the last place he had seen Cas, and he also knew that Cas always had lunch there.

When Dean hustled inside of the room, he relaxed instantly upon finding Cas spinning aimlessly in one of Crowley's roller-chairs. Dean dropped his backpack near the door and walked over to him with his arms crossed.

"Don't _ever_ scare me like that again." He snapped. Cas didn't pause in his spinning.

"You forgot, didn't you." He stated rather than asked.

"Forgot what?"

"I had to help Crowley organize things for the auditions tomorrow. I told you this last night."

"Oh." Dean dropped his arms with a shrug. "My bad."

Cas kept spinning.

"Are you going to audition?"

"Yeah."

Cas stopped spinning.

He turned the chair so that it faced Dean and stared up at him with wide-eyes.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

Cas grinned, bounced off the chair, and wrapped Dean in a tight hug. "Awesome!"

"Hey, that's my line!" Dean teased, hugging him back. Cas puffed a sigh against his neck, but he laughed, too.

"Maybe it's _our _line."

"Aww, aren't you guys just the cutest thing?" A familiar cooing voice came from behind Dean. He tried to let go of Cas to verify that it was coming from Meg, but Cas held him tighter and made a sound that had Dean assuming he was sticking his tongue out at her. _At least that partly answers my question of who he's told._

"Yeah, well, he's _my _cutest thing. Get your own." Cas said.

"Don't call me cute." Dean grumbled against Cas' hair at the same time that Meg said, "I'm trying, dummy."

Cas laughed at both of them before finally releasing Dean. As if on second thought, he gave Dean a quick kiss on the cheek before returning to spinning in the chair.

"After three years I would've thought you'd be bored of that." Meg commented dryly. Cas ignored her. Mr. Crowley walked in from the hallway, then, and took in the setting with a muffled, "hmmf" before continuing into his office. Cas stopped spinning, and rather dizzily made his way to his backpack. He grabbed it off the floor and turned to Dean with a silly grin on his face.

"Ready to go?"

"Sure." Dean said, grabbing his own backpack and following Cas. They bid Meg goodbye before rushing out to the Impala. It was pouring rain outside, and both boys had left their coats at the house since it had been sunny that morning. They were drenched by the time they clambered inside the car.

"It hasn't rained this hard in a while." Cas commented as Dean pulled into the line of student cars exiting the lot.

"Hmm." He grunted a response, too focused on carefully guiding the car.

"You okay?" Cas asked, breaking the thick silence. Dean shrugged.

"Yeah."

"...You look tense."

"I just don't like driving in this weather. Parents, ya know?" Dean said dismissively. He was trying to hide how much driving in the rain bothered him, but Cas was more perceptive than Dean gave him credit for.

They fell into silence until Dean noticed that Cas was wiggling around from the corner of his eye. They were going slow down a side-road since Dean didn't want to drive on the main ones, so he felt safe enough to glance over at Cas. Except he didn't just glance, he stared. Cas was in the process of taking off his wet shirt. When he pulled it off of his head, he caught Dean's eye and grinned.

"You didn't have to stop the car."

Dean cleared his throat, turned back to the road, and moved his foot from the brake to the gas pedal. He hadn't even realized that he'd done that.

"Sorry." Cas said sheepishly a few minutes later. They were almost back to the house.

"You will be." Dean said, glancing at Cas to waggle his eyebrows and give him a very obvious once over. They turned onto their street.

"Son of a bitch."

Naomi's car was in the driveway. Dean stopped the Impala and instantly threw the gears into reverse. After making a messy K-turn he went back onto the road they had just come from and pulled the car to a halt against the curb. He turned it off as Cas asked, "Did she see us?"

"I didn't see her. She might be inside. Sam may have let her in." Dean said as he reached for his backpack in the backseat. He dropped it when he remembered that Cas had his phone.

"Can I have my phone?" He asked, looking at Cas, and despite the situation, trying not to _look_ at Cas.

"Yeah." Cas pulled it out of his jeans' pocket and handed it to Dean, who sent a quick text to Sam.

**is naomi there?**

They didn't have to wait long for Sam's reply.

**yea, y?**

**tell me when she leaves **Dean wrote back. He still hadn't told Sam exactly why Cas had been staying with them, and he wasn't about to. Not over text-message, at the very least.

**k**

Dean set his phone on the middle of the seat and turned to Cas.

"Well, until Sam says she's gone, what do you want to do?"

"We should go get ice cream."

"Cas, you know that's not a good idea." Dean warned. For almost an entire month, they had heavily avoided being seen in public together so that no suspicion would be raised. Cas' disappearance from home hadn't exactly been in the newspapers, but Naomi knew a lot of people in their small town.

"Yeah, but who's gonna see us? We can go to that Roadhouse place. No one from school goes out there." Cas protested. Dean sighed. He had a point. The Roadhouse was more of a bar than a diner, and it drew a certain crowd that intimidated most of the people they knew.

"Fine. That'll work. I've got cash." Dean said as he restarted the car and drove off to the Roadhouse. The rain had calmed a little, and so Dean chose to brave the main road.

The drive reminded him of how, about a month ago, he'd been rushing to the same place in rain. He wondered how he hadn't been bothered by the rain then. The answer he came up with was all too obvious.

A/N: Due to GISHWHES and personal travel, there won't be many updates this next week. Sorry everyone! To my fellow GISHERs, good luck and have an awesome week! (And to those non-GISHERs, also have an awesome week!) ~Tharesa


	28. Ice Cream

Neither Dean nor Castiel had ever set foot inside the Roadhouse before. The rectangular building was made to look like an old western tavern, with smooth-log walls, support beams, floor, ceiling, and furniture. Dim lights hung from metal rings in the ceiling over each table and the bar, which was situated at the opposite end of the building from the entrance.

The diner was mostly empty, save two biker-men at the bar and one travel-weary family at a table. Dean and Cas both flinched at the bell that dinged above their heads when the door opened, but no one paid any attention to them. They took one of the tables closest to the door, sitting across from one another with Dean facing the door while Cas had his back to it. Seconds later, the door at the far back that led to presumptuously where the the kitchen was swished open and closed. Dean turned around when Cas made a face of recognition. The waitress coming toward them was Jo from Dean's acting class. She grinned at them and waved shyly as she walked up to their table holding menus.

"Hey Dean, Cas! What're you guys doin' here?" She asked, setting the menus down in front of both of the boys. She eyed their still-wet shirts curiously.

"We came out for ice cream. You work here?" Cas answered, glancing briefly at the menu before turning his attention back to Jo.

"Yeah, my mom owns the place. We do malts in addition to ice cream. The desserts are all on the back."

They flipped over the menus and read the desserts.

"Can I get the apple pie with a scoop of vanilla?" Dean asked, hardly needing any time to decide. Jo nodded, then they both looked to Cas expectantly. It took him another minute, then he ordered a vanilla malt.

"Comin' right up!" Jo said, then she took their menus and returned to the kitchen.

Dean and Cas shared smiles before Cas got a pensive look on his face.

"What are you thinking?"

Cas shifted his eyes to the table surface. "This is...our first date." He said hesitantly. Dean felt his heart skip a beat and he grinned.

"Awesome."

Cas looked up at him with a hopeful look on his face. He opened his mouth to say something, but bit his lip instead and glanced behind Dean. He followed his gaze to find Jo returning to them. She deposited a malt in front of Cas, followed by a slice of steaming apple pie and a scoop of ice cream in front of Dean.

"Holler if you guys need anything else." She said, then walked away with another little wave.

"What were you gonna say, Cas?" Dean asked as he picked up his fork. Cas shrugged noncommittally.

"Come on, man. Tell me."

"I have an idea." Cas finally said.

"Okay...?" Dean prompted. He took a bite of pie.

Cas took a sip of his malt before he said, "Let's go to my house."

"That is a very _bad _idea."

"I'm not finished!" Cas stuck his tongue out before he continued, "And let's tell Naomi."

"I'm not seeing where this is _good_ at all."

"Because then we won't have to hide. And we can go on more dates."

_Oh._

"As much as I'd love to do that, I don't want you anywhere near your mom."

"But–."

"Cas. What if she hurts you?"

"Then I'll deal with it. Look, you–Balthazar, Gabriel, and Henriksen, too–can only hide me for so long. And Naomi could do worse things than go to the cops. As we saw today, she's already bothering you and Sam again. It'll just save everyone time and energy if we go tell her now."

Dean huffed in frustration and didn't answer. It just wasn't safe. Yes, it would allow them the freedom to go out together, and Cas would no longer have to hide between Dean's house and the school. But Dean just _knew _Naomi would hurt him. She'd already tried to stab him before, what would stop her now?

That reminded him that his little brother was alone with the woman. He pulled out his phone from his pocket and texted Sam while carefully ignoring Cas' concerned-yet-annoyed glances.

**sam u ok?**

He set the phone on the table and finally looked up at Cas. He was giving Dean his best impression of a puppy dog.

Dean rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I still don't like it."

"I could always go by myself when you can't stop me." Cas said defiantly, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at Dean.

"I like that less." He said, and put his hands up in defeat. "Fine. We'll go."

Cas grinned at his victory, then they finished their desserts with idle chatter. At some point, Cas put his feet on top of Dean's. Dean pretended not to notice.

"Here's your check. We only take cash or card." Jo said when she came out carrying a little black folder. Dean picked it up and refused to let Cas even touch it. He pulled out his wallet from his back pocket and gave Jo the right amount for their food. She returned quickly with his change, which he left as a tip. Then he and Cas went back out to the Impala.

Dean check his phone, feeling a bit worried since Sam hadn't replied. He relayed the information to Cas, who took on his worried expression.

"Let's check on him first." He said as they drove back toward the main part of town.

"Wait, you want to go _today_?"

"Might as well." Cas shrugged.

"Jesus, Cas."

"What does the son of God–?"

"Dude." Dean snapped dryly. Cas just chuckled.

Naomi's car was no longer in the driveway, and Dean took his usual place in the center. He and Cas picked up their bags and went inside through the back.

Luci greeted them with a bark and a wagging tail, which made them both momentarily forget their worry.

"Hey girl!" Dean cooed, giving her a high-speed scratch-behind-the-ears before going off to find Sam. Cas kept his hand on the collie's head as they followed Dean through the house. They found Sam downstairs on the couch, invested in homework.

"Dean. You've gotta tell me what the hell is going on. I live here too, ya know." Sam said without even turning around to see who was there. Cas sat on the last stair-step while Dean took a seat next to his brother. Sam looked a bit scared, and Dean felt a stab of anger at Naomi. _What did she say to him?_

"What do you mean?"

"With Cas. His mom is freaking out, Dean. I didn't tell her anything, but she's _freaking out._"

"That's because I ran away from home." Cas contributed.

"Yeah, I guessed that much. But why? She seemed to think you were here. Why? You guys stopped talking for like, years."

"It's cus we're dating. My mom has issues with homosexuality."

Dean was honestly grateful for Cas' help. He would've hardly been able to explain the situation to Sam himself, simply because he was shit at explaining his emotional life. It was also nice that Cas got straight to the point.

"Okay. What I still don't get is why you guys won't tell her that he's okay."

"Cas has called her since. And we were about to go over to his house and talk to her. We wanted to check on you first since you didn't answer my text." Dean spoke up. Sam nodded understandingly.

"Yeah. Sorry. My phone's charging upstairs."

"Alright. We'll be back." Dean said, and he got up and headed for the stairs. Cas hadn't moved, though.

"Sam? Did she say anything to you?" He asked.

"That she was looking for you. And really worried."

"Besides that?"

"Well..."

"What did she say, Sammy?" Dean pushed.

"She said she was gonna come back with the cops." Sam rushed out, turning to stare at Dean with a slightly terrified look.

"Shit. When?" Dean asked, running a hand through his hair.

"I dunno."

"Why did she say that?" Cas asked, somehow keeping his voice even.

"I think she recognized something of Cas'. His notebook was on coffee table."

"Fuck." This time the curse came from Cas.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have let her in, I just, she seemed so–."  
"Sammy, chill. It's okay." Dean said, putting his hands out, "We'll go handle it. Come on, Cas."

The older boys rushed out of the house and back into the Impala. The rain had nearly dissipated by now, and Dean sped almost the entire way to Cas' house. He pulled next to the curb across the street from the big white house, then turned to Cas.

"Look, if anything gets dangerous, we book it for the car, okay? Even if we're not done talking to her."

"Okay." Cas agreed. Then he held his hand out to Dean, who gave it a tight squeeze before they got out of the car and headed for the door.


	29. Just An Actor

Dean wove his fingers with Cas' after the other boy had pushed the doorbell. They waited in tortured silence until the door swung open.

"Castiel!" Naomi shouted. She pushed open the screen door and scooped Cas into a tight hug, which he didn't return. He tightened his fingers around Dean's.

Naomi only saw Dean when she stood back.

"You!" She snarled. There were fresh tears trailing down her cheeks as she glared at Dean. He returned the glare.

"What have you done to my son!?" She screeched, balling her hands into fists. Dean was about to furiously reply, but Cas beat him to it.

"Dean has done nothing. If anyone has hurt me, it would be _you_. We're here to tell you to leave us alone."

"I will not! You are_ my son_, Castiel, and you will not mix with this, this _mutt_!" She jabbed a finger at Dean, who shoved it away with his free hand.

"Don't call him that. Dean is my _best friend_ and I will _not_ let you take him away from me again." Cas snapped. Dean spared a glance at him, and was impressed at the purely seething look he was giving Naomi.

"Listen. If you go to the cops and try to get them to take me back to you, I will _not hesitate_ to tell them that you are an abusive parent. I have witnesses and others who will back me up on this. So, if you don't want to have a lawsuit, which I _know_ you can't afford, then leave us _the fuck alone_!" Castiel finished. Then he pulled Dean back down the driveway and toward the Impala.

"Castiel! Please, don't leave." Naomi called. They froze when they heard footsteps following them, and turned so that she wouldn't catch them off guard. Tears were constantly leaking from her eyes as she stopped in front of them with her arms crossed over her chest.

"I'm just trying to protect you, Castiel. Why can't you see that?" She said thickly. Neither of the boys responded.

"There's nothing to defend me from! You're just a crazy, hateful, unaccepting person. You couldn't even handle the fact that dad left you for someone else! You just told everyone, including Gabriel and I, that he was dead! You're pitiful." Cas' voice was full of finality. He turned on his heel and marched to the car, dragging Dean along with him.

They left Naomi sobbing in the driveway. Cas brooded in silence the whole way home, and Dean left him to it. He couldn't imagine having to talk to his parents like that. He'd never pissed them off that bad, or vice versa. Plus, Cas had just admitted something he'd never known. Castiel's father had left them. He hadn't died. That meant that Cas had someone to turn to if Naomi kept up her bullshit.

When they got inside, they found Sam sprawled out in a chair in the kitchen, talking to someone on the house phone. He gave them a little wave before returning to his conversation. Cas still had Dean's fingers laced with his, and he pulled him to the couch while they eavesdropped on Sam.

"Yeah, that'd be great. It's been like what, two months since you've been here? I know Dean would love to see you. Oh, and guess what? Yeah. How'd you know? But guess who...jeeze, Bobby, what are you, psychic? Yeah, yeah. Well, they're here now. Do you wanna talk to...okay. See you, then. Bye."

"Was that Bobby?" Dean asked, unnecessarily, after Sam hung up the phone. Sam came into the living room as he answered.

"Yup. And he already guessed that you and Cas are together. Not sure how he managed that." Sam had a lopsided grin on his face.

"Yeah, well, the minute he gets here I'm gonna tell him you're dating Jess."

"Ugh. Dean. No." Sam protested.

"Just 'cus you won't tell anyone doesn't mean it's not obvious." Cas added. Sam hid his face in his hands and walked off to his room.

"You two are unbelievable." He groaned before closing his door. Dean and Cas shared a small smile.

"So. Do you think she'll leave us alone now?" Dean asked, referring to Naomi.

"Yeah. My comment about dad was probably enough to deter her." Cas replied glumly. Dean nodded.

"You'd never mentioned that he left. I always thought he was dead."

"I only found out this summer."

"Ah."

"You wanna know how?"

"Hmm?"

"He fuckin' called me."

"What a dick."

Cas chuckled darkly. "Yeah. It's only been my entire life. One day I'm at home, the phone rings, I answer, and he says, 'Hello, this is Met. Who is this?' I told him, and he says, 'Castiel. This is your father.' Fifteen years!"

"What was his explanation?"

"He never gave me one. I hung up on him."

"Oh. Cas." Dean gave him a disapproving look that Cas merely shrugged off.

"I wasn't about to let my non-existent father walk right back into my life."

Dean nodded in agreement. "Did you tell Naomi? That he called?"

"Nope. She only knows that I know as of twenty-ish minutes ago."

"I'm sorry." Dean said unnecessarily. He wasn't one to usually offer unnecessary comments, but Cas usually destroyed all of his usuals. _If that makes any sense at all._

"It doesn't matter. I don't need my parents, I have you."

Cas held his arms out to Dean, who scooted closer until he was laying across Cas' lap with his shoulders braced against the armrest.

"I guess that's good."

"In fact, it is _awesome_." Cas emphasized the last word, to which Dean rolled his eyes.

"I'll let that one slide."

"Awesome."

"Don't abuse the power, man." Dean chuckled. He nestled his face in the crook of Cas' neck and closed his eyes. Sitting on the couch with Castiel was relaxing. He could get used to this.

Cas dropped his head against Dean's and puffed a sigh into his hair.

"Love you, Winchester." He murmured.

Less relaxing.

Dean sat up a bit so that he was looking at Cas, even though he couldn't fight the blush from his cheeks as he tried to think of a response. He just couldn't. His thoughts were flustered, and his words even more so.

"C-Cas...I...you..."

Cas chuckled. "Relax, Dean. It doesn't take a rocket-scientist to know how you feel." He said reassuringly, pressing a kiss to Dean's hair.

Once Dean's muscles had relaxed and he'd leaned back against Cas, he thought of the perfect reply.

"Just an actor."

A/N: I love getting your guys' reviews. Thank you to every single reviewer, you people make me so happy. I love that you guys actually enjoy this ^^! And thank you for advice/comments about what I messed up. I would never remember them if I didn't have you guys ^^'


	30. Nerves

The only thing Dean had ever auditioned for was baseball. And those were technically try-outs. He'd never auditioned.

But now here he was sitting in the hallway next to the school's theatre with his head in his hands, his eyes forced shut, and his heart pounding.

There were about twenty people in the hallway with him; originally there had been about forty. Cas had been one of the first to audition, and Dean would be one of the last. It had only worked out this way because Dean had been one of the very last people to put his name on the list.

He had no idea where Cas currently was. He assumed that he was in the drama room, since that was the last place he had watched him walk off to.

It was probably for the best that Cas was leaving him alone for this. Dean didn't particularly want anyone he knew around at the moment. He was just too nervous. Which was weird. Dean Winchester doesn't get nervous. At least, that's what he likes to make others think.

He's only been nervous a handful of times, and he remembers them all in full detail.

When he'd spent two whole hours waiting for Castiel to text him once in fifth grade when Cas had fallen from a swing and had been rushed to the hospital.

When he'd sat on the couch at home, watching TV with Bobby, and waiting for his parents to call and tell them that Sam was alright after his pre-school had burnt to the ground.

When he tried out for baseball the very first time.

When he and Sam were trapped at the hospital, waiting to find out what had happened to their parents after their car accident.

When Cas didn't answer his texts, calls, emails, anything for a solid week before he sent the message ending their friendship.

When he asked out Lisa Braeden, his crush of two-years.

And then now. Waiting outside of the theatre to audition for a play. He never thought this would happen. It had simply never crossed his mind that he, Dean Winchester, would be trying out–auditioning–for a theatre production.

His life was sure surprising the hell out of him these days.

A/N: I bet you guys had totally forgotten this thing involved theatre. If I wasn't a liar I would tell you that I had also forgotten. Confused? Yep. So here I am, updating my theatre au while what I really should be doing is GISHWHES shenanigans...oops.


	31. Wasted Talent

A/N: Warning for theme of suicide (no one dies I pinky-promise). I think you guys will like this part. At least I hope you do. I did. ~Tharesa

"Next."

Crowley's voice rang out in the hall. Dean was standing directly to the left of the door to the stage, and it barely registered in his mind that it was his turn until Jo, who was after him, pushed him gently toward the door.

"Wake up, Winchester. It's your turn!" She gave him a shy, encouraging smile that finally brought Dean out of his thoughts.

"Right. Sorry." He mumbled as he made his way on stage. Crowley and Chuck were sitting at a folding table at the very back of the stage, and they watched him expectantly as he made his way to center stage. He took one last deep breath before he began his introduction.

"Hello, my name is Dean Winchester. Today I will be performing 'Wasted Talent', a monologue by Joseph Arnone.

He closed his eyes briefly, and let himself fall into the character of Donnie. Then he began.

"He stopped believing, that's it, that's why he failed…he quit." Dean snapped the last word. This monologue was easy. It reminded him of Cas. It had been easy to substitute the emotions he needed for this if he imagined he were talking about him. Especially since Donnie was referring to his best friend.

Dean paced a circle around the lone chair on the stage as he continued. He had decided that his 'other' was next to Crowley, and he focused his words next to that spot.

"So much talent, so much _potential,_ but he stopped believing in himself. He lost his way 'cause he couldn't figure out what to do next with his career, and I guess all the stress added up and finally _broke _

him." Dean stressed 'broke'. He knew what it felt like to watch Cas break. He never wanted to see that again.

"His music was great." This line was important. That's why Dean had set it apart. It gave the audience, as well as Dean, some context for what was going on. It also spurred memories that Dean had long stowed into the back of his mind. His mother used to play the guitar. She'd sing Dean's favourite lullabies and strum the notes on the guitar for him when he was little and couldn't sleep. He missed that, just as Donnie missed listening to his friend play his music.

"I would listen to it all the time...it would get me into a pumped up emotional state and his lyrics never got old." This time Dean thought of Cas' imagination. When they were kids, Cas would come up with all sorts of stories that he had Dean read. He'd never admitted it, but Dean loved the stories Cas wrote. He'd thought Cas was a natural storyteller.

"No one gave him a _chance,_ but I think that in today's world that doesn't matter; he didn't give _himself_ the chance to take control of his career the way I knew he could have. Maybe it was fear from doubting himself and it crippled his ambition." This was where it became obvious to the audience that the downfall of Donnie's best friend had been his music. And Dean had decided to play out that feeling of defeat, because he knew that if he watched Cas destroy himself before he even got a chance to shine, he'd feel defeated, if not guilty because he did nothing to stop it.

"He did it for so long with no financial gain, no recognition for his genius and he couldn't do it

no more." Dean let the words hang in the air. This next part was going to be hard to say. All the times he'd practiced this for Sam and Cas, it had been hard for him not to cry at the image that played in his mind.

"He gave up, and that's why he _hung_ himself in his studio; he couldn't _do it_ anymore." The proverbial bomb had dropped. All Dean, all _Donnie_ could see was his best friend Castiel dangling in the air in a small, dark room, somewhere he should never be. The first time Dean had practiced, the image had suddenly come to him, and it had been all too real. He'd had to take a break with Cas reassuring him that he was okay for Dean to continue. His voice always shook when he did.

"It pains me, because I believed in the guy more than he believed in himself. He forgot the

number one lesson, which is to do what you love for the sake of the journey." Dean had had to work hard on this line. At first, he couldn't pick which emotions should go in it: anger, hurt, sadness. Eventually he had settled on all three of them.

"Nothing is more rewarding than that. He lost sight of that. He forgot what it's all about. It's not about _money_ or _fame_ or _compliments_. It's about _expressing_ yourself creatively because it's what your _soul_ needs to do and _enjoying_ the process. He lost track of that enjoyment and instead found himself caught up with what most people get stuck on." Dean had to scoff here. People who became stars were all over the media. Likewise, so were their self-destructive habits. That line had been why he'd picked this monologue. It spoke to him. He himself had taken up acting merely for a reward: Castiel. But now, he was _enjoying_ the art of it so much so that he was auditioning for a play. It kinda gave him chills.

"I wish I somehow knew how deep he'd fell off in his belief cause I—." Donnie had to pause here. He had to gather his thoughts. He had to regain the composure that he was on the edge of losing. Dean's voice wavered heavily as he continued.

"I will miss him very much, he was a dear friend and a talented artist and the world has been robbed of his contribution to humanity." Dean couldn't help but be reminded of how Naomi had nearly taken Cas from him. It made the next sentences come out even easier.

"It hurts. It's sad. It didn't have to happen this way."

Now the audition was over. Dean froze with his hands in a knuckle-white grip on the chair, counted to five, then moved around the chair and took a bow.

"Thank you." He said, before walking off stage to the exit.

Audition: done and done.


	32. Oops

Dean found Cas in the drama room, just as he'd expected.

"How'd it go?" Cas asked, looping an arm around Dean's waist from his spot on the rolling chair. Meg, who was standing next to them, made a gagging sound in her throat. Both boys ignored her.

"Just as practiced."

"Good. That was a powerful piece. I'm glad that you chose it. Crowley should be impressed." Cas said, giving Dean a mock-hug by squeezing the arm that was around him.

"Yeah." Dean mumbled. He was currently more focused on how Cas' warmth was making his nerves melt away.

Cas poked his ribs at some point, which snapped Dean out of the trance-like state he was in. He jumped back slightly and shot a glare at Cas.

"You okay?" Cas looked a bit worried.

Dean shrugged. "Yeah. Don't tell anyone I said this, but auditioning was a bit scarier than I thought."

Meg and Cas shared a laugh. "Yeah, well. It gets easier. Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah."

"Hey lovebirds." Jo was approaching them from across the room, and she wiggled her fingers in greeting.

"Don't lump me with them." Meg grumbled teasingly. No one missed the once-over she gave Jo. Dean was surprised that Meg hadn't ever met Jo before; she hung around the drama room a lot with the other boy from his acting class...Adam, wasn't it?

"Hi Jo." The boys greeted her.

"How you doin'?" Meg mimicked Joey from 'Friends', adding a flirtatious smile.

"Uh." Was all that Jo responded.

A moment of silence, and staring at Meg, passed before she threw her hands in the air and walked away.

"So. What're you guys gonna do tonight?" Jo asked casually, as if nothing had happened.

"Homework." Cas responded. Dean groaned. He had a history paper to write that he'd been procrastinating on. What was worse was that Cas knew about the paper, and he refused to let Dean forget it.

"Aww. I was hoping you guys would come by the Roadhouse." Jo seemed to droop a little.

"Another night, we promise." Dean said immediately. Cas nodded enthusiastically. Jo shrugged.

"Yeah, I get that. Alright, then I'll see ya later." She gave them both another wave, then walked away. Dean pulled Cas out of the chair suddenly, which caused Cas to trip into him, which ended with them tangled on the floor.

The entire room, which was full of chattering drama club and class members, fell dead silent. Dean stared up at Cas, who was hovering barely an inch above him and staring back. Someone laughed, which set off nearly the entire group. _Did that seriously just happen._

There was a mad scramble as they both got off the floor. They shifted their shirts–which had somehow gotten mussed–back into place, then stared helplessly around the room and at each other.

"Keep it to yourselves, boys!" Crowley called out from his office. It was then that they both blushed, grabbed their backpacks, and bolted from the room.

They rushed out to the car and collapsed against it, breathless and fighting off their own laughter.

"Holy shit. That only happens in the movies!" Dean said as he climbed in.

Cas nodded. "I am _officially_ embarrassed."

"Yeah, you're blushing." Dean teased as he rushed the car out of the parking lot. Cas glared at him.  
"And you aren't?"

"Shuddup." Dean slurred.

Cas grinned and turned the radio to a pop-music station. Dean made a whining noise.

"You pulled me out of the chair. This is your fault."

"Fine."

They got home safely and piled into the house. They dumped their packs and shoes at the door, then walked into the living room to find Sam in Jess in the same position they had just been on–except on the Winchesters' couch.

"Not even surprised." Dean deadpanned at the startled middle-schoolers before he and Cas bolted for their room. They collapsed on the bed in a fit of laughter.

"Could this day get any crazier?" Cas asked. Dean laughed harder and couldn't respond. Cas took a steadying breath, then crawled on top of him and grinned. Dean instinctively helped balance him by placing his hands on his shoulders.

"I think I know how it could."

Dean's laughter ended abruptly. "Uh."

Cas wiggled his eyebrows, which made Dean match his grin. "Wiggling your eyebrows is in no way seductive, Cas. Just so you know."

"Challenge accepted."

Cas leaned in and placed a chaste kiss on Dean's lips, but Dean didn't let him get away. He moved his left hand to the back of Cas' head and pulled him back in for a heavier kiss. He closed his eyes and lost himself in how Cas' lips felt soft against his, how the press of their bodies felt so _right_, how the feeling of...was that what he thought it was?

Dean didn't have to wait long for an answer. Cas, just as caught up in the feeling as Dean was, thrust his hips slightly against Dean's, making them both draw a sharp gasp. Cas muttered Dean's name before they were kissing again, this time more heatedly. Dean didn't disregard the fact that Cas' voice, which was deeper than normal, had sent a bolt of heat straight to his groin; he acted on it.

Dean pushed against Cas until they were sitting up, with Dean's back pressed against the wall and Cas straddling his lap. He pushed his hands under Cas' t-shirt and latched his fingers onto his hips. A whimpering sound escaped Cas' lips at the touch, and Dean responded by thrusting his hips up against Cas'. That earned him another whimper, and he couldn't fight the smile from his lips.

"Gee, Cas. Didn't know you were so sensitive." Dean broke their kiss to lean their foreheads together, and he couldn't help but tease. Cas literally growled at him, which made him laugh.

"I'll show you sensitive." Cas snapped, then he wiggled his eyebrows at Dean for emphasis. Dean felt his heart skip a beat and he blushed.

"Okay. In that very, _very specific_ instance, that was hot." He admitted. Cas grinned victoriously before pushing his lips against Dean's.

They continued that way for a while before Cas became fed up with their shirts rucking up between them. He broke the kiss and shuffled out of his shirt. Dean followed suit, and instantly their lips locked again. Dean's stomach fluttered as Cas began lightly tracing the contours of his chest.

Everything about this moment was perfect. The way Cas' fingers felt on his skin was electrifying. The way he pulled at Dean's lips, every so often dragging his bottom lip through his teeth, felt like tangible lust. And the movement of his hips as they pushed against one another was just _indescribable._ Dean could stay like this forever.

Cas had other ideas.

He let go of Dean's lips with one final scrape of teeth, and began tracing down the left side of his jaw line with his own lips. Dean focused on how to breathe. Cas' lips played along the tendons of his neck, before he gave butterfly kisses to Dean's collar bone. Then he repeated the process on Dean's right side. And he was still running his fingers on Dean's chest.

"You know– " Cas began, interrupting himself by kissing Dean's skin.

"Hmm?"

"People say...that...freckles...are kisses...from...angels."

Dean smiled and laughed. "Mom used," _that was not a gasp that cut me off_, "to tell me that all," d_ammit Cas, _"the time."

Cas hummed against his skin and Dean's breath hitched once again.

"Holy shit." He muttered. Cas did it again, except he hummed a melody this time instead of just one syllable. That little act did things to Dean that he decided not to put much thought on.

A wave of passion suddenly crashed down on him, and Dean hurriedly moved Cas underneath him on the bed, so that now he was straddling Cas' hips and bent nearly half-way at the waist so that he could kiss him.

When his passion calmed, if only slightly, he took a moment to breathe, simply staring down at the boy beneath him. At Castiel. At his _love._

Cas' eyes were hooded, his pupils blown wide, and there was a smile hiding in his face somewhere as he stared back at Dean.

"You're beautiful, Castiel." Dean whispered, completely lost in the moment. He didn't care if he sounded dumb or sappy or whatever insulting words his friends on the team would try and mock him with for saying that to Cas. He only cared that Cas really did look..._beautiful. _

"Thanks, gorgeous." Cas winked, and finally that smile surfaced on his lips. Dean grinned back, and placed a chaste kiss to his boyfriend's lips. Then another. And another. Until they were making out again.

They must have spent at least two whole hours in their room before Cas' stomach started grumbling.

"You're hungry." Dean noted on the third occurrence. Cas groaned. "No."

"It's gotta be like, seven at least. We didn't get home 'til five. Come on. I'll make hamburgers." Dean insisted, and he rolled off the bed, successfully bouncing to his feet.

"Fine." Cas whined, before he followed suit.

When they reached the kitchen, they found Sam and Jess already in the process of making spaghetti.

"Can we get some of that?" Dean asked, plopping down at his usual chair at the table. Cas sat on the floor next to the door frame between the kitchen and the backdoor hallway and was instantly tackled by Luci. Dean watched him pet her while Sam answered.

"Sure thing. I figured you guys would get hungry at some point, so we made a bunch of noodles."

"Awesome. Did you–?"

"Yes."

"You didn't even let me–."

"I knew what you were going to ask. And before you ask, yes, Jess did her homework too."

"Fine. Just wanted to check. Bitch." Dean chuckled, winking at Jess, who was giving him a look that said _you're not my parent._

"Jerk."

Dinner went by smoothly, with the group of teens chatting amiably about their school days. Cas brought up Dean's audition, and Sam seemed proud of his brother. Jess gave him a high-five across the table.

Jess left an hour later, after they had all cleaned up the kitchen. Sam went and hid in his room, leaving Dean and Cas to themselves once again. They worked on homework for a solid hour before Cas pointed out that Dean looked like he was about to pass out. Then they migrated to their room, changed clothes, and curled into bed together.

"Goodnight, Dean." Cas whispered against the back of his neck. Somehow Dean had ended up being the little spoon. It wasn't often that he had found himself spooning people, to his credit, but this was definitely the first time he'd been the little spoon. He shifted his hand so that it was resting on top of Cas' and gave it a tiny squeeze.

"'Night, Cas."

A/N: Holy kittens you guys I am so freaking sorry that I took so long to get this chapter out for you. I just _could not_ **for the life of me **write a damn make-out scene.

Anykittens, school has started again. This means I will be updating once a week. I'm going to make it a goal to update on every Saturday. So, I will see you next Sat., and maybe with this format I'll poop out longer chapters for you guys. We shall see.

Love you all, thank you so much for reading! Hope you enjoy. ~Tharesa


	33. Shit

A/N: Warning, there will be foul language in this chapter.

Castiel was in his biology class when he got a text from an unknown number. He'd gotten his phone back from his mother two days ago; she had dropped it in the Winchesters' mailbox ago while they had been at school.

Not that Castiel counted himself as an official Winchester.

He cut off that train of thought as he read the text.

**Meet me at the dumpsters immediately after school. Come alone.**

The mysterious words sent a chill down his spine. _This only happens in the movies._

**Who is this? **Cas replied, sneakily texting under his desk while his teacher rambled on about ecology.

He never received an answer.

* * *

At lunch, Cas debated telling Meg. Or at the very least Crowley. Someone ought to know if he got kidnapped. Or worse.

Honestly, he was over thinking it. Maybe it was some freshman girl who wanted to ask him out. Wouldn't be the first time.

Five minutes into their lunch time he caved. The three of them were sitting in Crowley's office, with the teacher in his desk rolling chair, and the two students in chairs the former president and vice president had dragged into the room three years before Cas and Megs' freshman year.

"I got a weird text in biology this morning." He said. Crowley and Meg gave him half-interested looks.

"Here." Cas gave Meg his phone with the text already pulled up on the screen. She scanned over it with a shrug.

"Probably some kid with a crush. You're a popular unicorn, Castiel."

He got the same reaction from Crowley. Despite their lack of interest, at least he now felt comfortable with the situation. He'd been right: he over-thought it.

* * *

That was not a female silhouette that Cas saw around the corner of the school building. His heart jumped in his throat. _This could be bad. _

Castiel paused, making sure he was out of sight of the male person. He sent a quick text to Dean.

**Meet me at the dumpsters. Now.**

Hopefully his boyfriend would listen. Cas couldn't help but smile at that word, every time he thought it. Dean was so much more to him than that simple label, yet, that label was simply the only way to phrase it. Excluding feeling words of course, which were things he knew made Dean uncomfortable. He was going to change that.

Cas took a steadying breath. Dean would be here in moments, and if things took a bad turn with this guy, the odds would become two-against-one. He would be safe.

* * *

Dean had found it a bit odd that Cas had split ways with him after math, but when he got the text, he couldn't help the _very inappropriate _thought that crossed his mind.

_That kinky son of a bitch._

He slammed his locker door shut and hauled his ass to the dumpsters.

Dean paused at the sound of voices.

_What the hell–?_

His thought was cut off by a muffled shriek.

* * *

"Did you actually come alone?" The other young man asked as soon as Cas rounded the corner.

"Yes. If you don't mind my asking, who are you?" Cas didn't take any steps further. He already felt nervous being asked to meet a stranger in such a sketchy place, there was no way he would jeopardize his safety by approaching the was an instinct that he had learned to rely on early in his life.

"My name's Michael."

Cas suppressed the dread he felt from being visible. He had a feeling that he knew the exact Michael he was talking to. A fearful tingle erupted in his gut.

"What do you want?" Cas asked as nonchalantly as he could manage. He hoped Michael took it as though he were indifferent.

"I _want _you to stay away from Dean Winchester." Michael inadvertently took a threatening step forward, and Cas resisted the urge to book it back into the school.

"Why?" Was all he could squeak out.

"Simple. He was _mine_ first."

Cas scoffed at that. It was simply _juvenile. _He could hardly believe that this was happening.

"Listen, Michael. I'm sorry that you aren't dating Dean. But it's really not your choice who he dates, and if you really have a problem with it, you should talk to Dean about it." Cas began to turn away, but Michael lunged forward, grabbed his arm, and yanked him back. Cas let out an involuntary yelp in surprise.

At first, it seemed that Michael was going to punch him in the face or something of the like. But suddenly he changed course and Cas found himself falling forward, ending up with his arms splayed over Michael's shoulders bracing himself against the brick wall of the school. Michael's cunning, _evil_ grin was merely inches from his face, and one of his hands was gripping Cas' elbow. Before Cas could understand _what in the hell just happened, _Michael was _kissing _him.

_What the–!?_

"–Fuck!?"

Cas shoved off of the wall and swirled around to find Dean standing behind them, slack-jawed and staring.

Michael scrambled off of Castiel and put distance between them. Not that he need to; Cas was practically running to Dean to close the distance between them. He needed to get that look off of Dean's face and he needed to do so _now._

"Dean! Your boyfriend, he–!" Michael sounded as terrified as Cas felt, standing next to Dean and clinging to his arm. He couldn't help but hate Michael for setting him up. He could have just ruined his life.

"Shut the fuck up, Michael." Dean snarled. He seemed to have snapped out of his shock, and he looked _furious. _Cas took that as a good thing.

"I'm not playing into another one of your stupid fucking games."

Michael tried to protest, but Dean didn't give him the chance. He grabbed Cas' hand and dragged him along to the student parking lot.

Cas followed in a daze. One half of him knew exactly what had happened. Michael had tried to set it up so that it seemed as if he was cheated on Dean. But so far Dean didn't seem to believe it.

His other half was still processing what had happened.

* * *

Dean found Cas in a very _interesting _position, with none other than Michael that more or less shut down his brain for a few moments.

When he was able to function again, Cas was instantly next to him, grabbing his left arm like a vice and trembling as if a lion had just jumped at him.

There wasn't a doubt in Dean's mind that that was exactly what had happened.

Dean could hardly remember the words he said to Michael and he dragged Cas to the Impala. All he could think about was how much he _hated _the dick for pulling Cas into their stupid conflict.

It wasn't until Cas made a noise in the car that Dean was able to shake himself out of his head. _Shit._


	34. You what?

As soon as they were in the car, Cas dug a tissue out of the glove box and furiously wiped every molecule of Michael's spit off of his lips.

"Ugh." He grumbled as he chucked the tissue out of the window. Then he turned to Dean, who was glaring at the road as he drove them home.

Dean hadn't said a word yet, and it was making Cas way more nervous than he was willing to let on.

"Dean?" He finally whispered, watching him nervously.

Dean jumped violently at the sound of his voice, and Cas felt a tremor of terror before he suppressed it. He ignored the flash of memory that crossed his mind. Now was not the time for that.

"Sorry, Cas. I'm just having a hard time believing that that dick would pull that shit."

"So...you're on my side?" Cas said, and he smiled in relief.

"Duh. There's no way in hell I'd believe you started that mess. Michael's a dick, Cas. That's why I didn't date him in the first place."

Well that was news.

A/N: Surprise! New chapter! Love y'all, ~Tharesa


	35. Peace Never Lasts

"Did you just imply that Michael _tried to date you_?" Cas couldn't keep the horror out of his voice. Dean visibly flinched before he defended himself. "Relax, man. Michael's an abusive dick to his boyfriends. There's no way in hell I'd date him."

"You _probably_ should've mentioned that he tried at some point. Considering how he was the one for my mother flipping her shit and all." Cas snapped. He couldn't believe Dean hadn't told him about Michael, especially when he was the one who–maybe even purposefully rather than inadvertently, considering what had just happened–had cost Castiel his mother and home. If Dean had just _said _something, Cas would never have stayed in that situation that ended in sexual assault.

That thought had him wiping his mouth on another napkin.

Another minute of silence passed, and finally, Cas couldn't take it anymore. Dean wasn't saying anything. Maybe there really wasn't much to say. After all, they both knew that Cas was right. But at the moment, Cas didn't really care. He needed some fresh air.

"Let me out."

"What?"

"_Let me out._"

"Cas, I–." Dean began to protest, but Cas cut him off.

"I just need space. Some time. If it wasn't obvious, I was just _sexually assaulted. _And you don't really seem to care all that much. So let me _out_."

He knew it was a low blow, but it worked. Dean pulled the car over, and Cas hopped out without taking any of his stuff. He pretended that the crumpled piece of paper from biology in his pocket was his phone when Dean asked, then he shut the door–much gentler than he felt–and began to walk in the opposite direction of Dean's house.

Once he heard the Impala drive away, he directed himself to Meg's house.


	36. Author's Note

Have no fear! My life has just exploded. Just casually exploded. I'll update when I can. Love you all. ~Tharesa


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